


A Villain's Fairy Tale

by xantoki



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Drama, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Romance, Yaoi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-04
Updated: 2018-05-05
Packaged: 2018-06-05 16:08:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 42,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6711952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xantoki/pseuds/xantoki
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Baekhyun is a Villain. Chanyeol just doesn't think so.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. All the Stories are True

_“All the stories are true.”  
\- Jace Herondale, the Mortal Instruments_

  


“Oh, my Prince!” Princess Sulli threw herself into the man, who caught her like he’d done it a million times before. Princes, Baekhyun thought, they always think they’re aesthetic. “You came for me!”  


Prince Minho smiled, and Baekhyun was a villain long enough to know that it was one of those insincere smiles the princes use to charm their ladies. “Shh, I’m here, Princess. I’m never letting you go. You’re safe with me now.”  


Baekhyun tried really hard not to snort. It was inevitable. _Yeah, and the world is flat_ , he thinks, growing tired of all these petty princes’ bullshit. He couldn’t hide the disgust on his face. It was a good thing The Mirror wasn’t facing him right now, or else the absolute nonchalance that his face was sporting would’ve made it to the storybooks. Villains can’t be nonchalant about the Princess’s happy ending. It ruins the fairytales.  


The Queen (aka Baekhyun) took out a piece of paper from his pocket and re-read his script, checking if he was doing it right. He hummed and put it back to his pocket, thinking of how he would deliver the last line he had to say before the Prince does his ‘mighty moment’.  


“What are you doing?! Guards!” he called for his ravens, words rolling off his tongue smoothly. “Kill that man!”  


Baekhyun had to act confused when the ravens didn’t show up. Minho was grinning from ear to ear as he drew his sword and pointed it at him. “Queen Matilda, any last words?”  


_Only that you’re the ugliest Prince I’ve encountered, and you’re terrible at being one, too_ , Baekhyun thinks but keeps the thought to himself. Little girls who read fairytales don’t like having their prince getting called ugly. Unless you were the Princess. Love-hate relationships kind of work sometimes.  


“You’re not getting away with this!” Baekhyun exclaims as he dashes for the exit, but he was suddenly snatched up and it didn’t require for him to look back to know that it was the Prince’s goddamned dragon.  


Baekhyun groaned. He hated heights.  


“Goodbye, Queen Matilda,” the Prince said at last with a smirk, all the while holding his princess.  


Then the dragon flew to the other side of the castle and released Baekhyun, letting him fall down to his death, and the villainous scream he emitted was partly real. He was never going to admit that, of course, and he was consumed by darkness, knowing that it was a portal and he knew his role in the Prince and Princess’ fairytale was over.  


Baekhyun could almost hear the storybook closing, the pen finally writing the last two words of every fairy tale in a typical fairy tale font, curves and edges printed in one swift motion, a phrase that proceeds the words Happily Ever After in every single fairy tale.  


_The End._

  


-  
-  


Baekhyun wakes up in his room with a headache. The first thing he sees was one of the paintings he’d made a long time ago that was hanging on the golden walls of his room, an image of a boy he did not know and had never met. Maybe it was one of the Princes he’d met in a previous fairy tale, or just a random product of his imagination. Nevertheless, the boy was absolutely beautiful.  


Speaking of fairy tales, the most recent job he had suddenly flashed in his mind, the picture of Prince Minho smiling eerily at him. The thought was very unnerving. Baekhyun shook the image out of his mind before it starts creeping him out. The last thing he needed right now was a scare during the night.  


The Villain had long noticed the amount of cobwebs that was gradually increasing. He’d blamed it for the previous fairytale he’d been in, which took him a whole 3 months to finish, and while that was the longest one he’d had for years, there was still Yeri the Head Mistress to make his slave life a living hell. He never had time for himself these days, and he hated that he hadn’t been able to use his signature body lotion for quite a long time now. His skin was already itching for attention.  


Baekhyun propped himself off his bed and took the medicines Minseok had prepared for him on the bedside table. The guy must’ve predicted his return, just like he always does. For that, he was always thankful. The feeling of someone actually caring for someone like him was something he’d never felt for a long time that Baekhyun almost forgot. It was bittersweet, but alas, everything is—is it not?  


He looked out his window and gazed at the castle at the other side, more elegant and bright than the one he’s living in, and sighs. He reaches for his towel and promptly heads for the bathroom, hoping not to meet Head Mistress Yeri on the way.  


The Castle for Good Princes and the Castle for Villains were not very much alike, except that both train princes and once-princes for their different roles in fairytales. Students in the other school don’t come back after they’d been assigned to a Princess, but Villains, like Baekhyun, return to the school over and over again at specific times like clockwork. Once they come back, they are once again on the line up for another fairytale to star on. Baekhyun hated how Villains never have happy endings on top of the endless work they have to do, but they never really had the right to complain.  


Most villains fall in love with the Princes, only to suffer heartbreaks in the end. No one will ever look at them like how Princes look at their Princesses, as if the latter were angels descended from heaven, and it was entirely heartbreaking. What have they done to get hurt repeatedly like a cycle? Were they really that bad?  


Pain, after enduring it countless of times, becomes boring. After a while, having your heart broken after each fairytale probably gets repetitive. Dull, even. But it never really stops hurting. 

  


There’s a refreshing feeling once you’ve gotten out of the shower after starving your body of soap and water for a while. Baekhyun moaned at the way his body felt light as he dried himself up with a towel. He went into his walk-in closet and started the search for an ironed uniform. It wouldn’t hurt to look presentable once in a while.  


Top Villains always had this advantage: a walk-in closet, bigger condo, access to the Groom Room, and most importantly, tastier food. Baekhyun’s grades as a Villain shot up after his second job as the Queen of Hearts in _Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland_ and he has been on the top spot ever since. Needless to say, the advisors started giving him female roles, most of which in the form of a Queen, after that. They’d believed he did a splendid work in the female villain field.  


Once Baekhyun was satisfied with how he looked, he went downstairs and smelled Minseok’s heavenly cooking as soon as he passed by the Kitchen. He approached the cook and hugged him from behind, startling the latter. “God, Baekhyun, you almost gave me a heart attack.”  


“You know that’s what I wanted,” Baekhyun casually said as he stuffed a piece of bread in his mouth, leaning back against the kitchen counter while watching Minseok cook something that smelled like bacon. He thinks Minseok might’ve done this because he knew that Baekhyun was coming back this morning. Baekhyun had always liked bacon. No pun intended.  


“Still a bitch, you are,” Minseok muttered as he glanced at the younger. “How was it?”  


Baekhyun huffed, blowing his bangs away from his face, taking another bite of the bread. “The lamest I’ve ever had.”  


Minseok hummed. “You say that every time.”  


“They get worse and worse _every time_.”  


This, surprisingly, was true. The previous job he had (which was about 5 years ago) involved him getting turned into a chicken and pecking the Prince’s eyeballs out. Very much like the original Rapunzel storyline, including the Princess’s tears magically healing the Prince’s eyes like it was the most realistic thing in the world. Baekhyun could never understand why they put things like this in the stories. Little girls might grow up believing their eyes could heal shit.  


“Haven’t seen the cunt anywhere,” Baekhyun mumbled absentmindedly.  


The Cook glanced at him. “Fortunate. I don’t think you’d still want her seeing you after that stunt you did last summer before you left.”  


“In my defense, Yeri is not even doing her job right. All she does is yell and scream orders. I bet she doesn’t even know how to clean a toilet.”  


“Tell that to someone who you literally asked to go suck a dick in French,” Minseok muttered.  


“I was practicing my French skills!”  


“I highly doubt asking someone to do such a sexual thing is essential in travelling.”  


Once again, Baekhyun was reminded to never argue with someone like Kim Minseok.

Snorting his dignity out of defeat, Baekhyun tried to grab a cookie jar on top of a shelf without Minseok noticing but due to his short figure, he ultimately failed. Minseok grinned at his misery. The act had failed to escape the Cook’s hawk eyes. “Ha. Too short to even steal a cookie jar. I’d hate my life if I were you.”  


Coming from the guy, the insult sounded empty. “Speak for yourself.”  


Minseok ignored this. “You still headin’ for that mundane school?”  


Baekhyun blinked and nodded. He stopped himself from sighing. It was always “that mundane school.” Never “the University.” Somehow people in the villain school thought that schools in the Downworld were mediocre. Baekhyun opted to disagree. It was the only place where he didn’t feel low and burdened. If only villains could take that chance to feel that way.  


They had always told him that he was just fooling himself for thinking that it was better in the Downworld. Immortals should never interact with such low creatures, they’d said. Baekhyun would always retort with, _“We’re already as low as we can be in this society. Would it hurt to step down a little more to at least take the burden off our backs for some time?”_ They never listen, though. They’d just laugh at the fact that the top student, _the_ top student, was going somewhere that… low.  


It would be a lie to say that having Villains, the lowest of all creatures, mock him didn’t hurt.  


Minseok sighed. “Well, here’s your lunch,” he says, handing him a lunch box. Baekhyun muttered a short thanks and grabbed his lunch. He was just about to leave when Minseok said something that sent chills to Baekhyun’s spine.  


“The Master wants to talk to you when you get back.”  


-  
-

  


To say that Baekhyun was edgy on the highest degree was an understatement.  


Baekhyun, as prickly and confident as he could be, had always been superior. Being a Villain for more than two centuries, he always regarded himself as the highest of his class. He was the Star Student, making all of the fairytales he’s starred in the best of all times, and had overthrown the damned Stepmother in _Cinderella_ for the number one spot in the Top Villains List effortlessly (it took him 50 years though; curse that brat Kim Taeyeon). He’d been an ace long enough for the other students to look up at him like a King.  


Meeting someone far more superior than him for the first time in a hundred years was entirely nerve-wracking.  


He doesn’t even know what the Master looked like. Fuck, no one does. The Master had always been inside his throne room—never outside, except for business matters involving the other school. The villain started to wonder what he looked like. Did he wear dark capes like what he’d seen in the movies? Was he an old man with a long beard that could rival Rapunzel’s hair? Did his throne have black smoke surrounding it?  


Baekhyun sighed as he put his things inside his locker harshly. He leaned on the locker next to his for support. He was stressing over a creepy guy’s appearance. This is so unbelievable.  


Baekhyun didn’t realize he was staring at his locker until someone called him by his other name.  


“Bernard!” Jongin waved as he ran towards him, panting. Based on the water bottle and obviously wet towel the former was holding, Baekhyun figured he’d just finished his dance class. “Bernard!”  


“Will you—stop saying my name!” Baekhyun whispered angrily when Jongin was already within hearing range. He always thought his other name did not suit him well. ‘Bernard’ sounded like a dog’s name and he didn’t like it.  


Jongin grinned. He was sweating so much. Baekhyun was yet to get used to this image. Many girls fawned over the dancer, and the male was oozing with sex-appeal, but Baekhyun did not seem to agree. “You know, it’s not actually as ‘disgusting’ as you think it is.”  


“Shut up. You’re lucky they named you Jace and not Bernard or some other shit like José,” Baekhyun snapped and closed his locker with much more force than necessary, startling the other.  


Kim Jongin, also known in the Downworld as Jace Silverwood, is also Villain like Baekhyun. In the School for Villains, they actually called him “The Black Prince,” which was actually ironic, considering that he was—get this—a Villain. This was because in fairytales, he was always the hot, gorgeous, jaw-dropping and oozing with sex-appeal villain the Princess falls in love with first. The fairytales he’s been on had never been particularly known in the Downworld unlike Baekhyun’s, though. Readers hoped that he and the Princess would be together in the end and that never happens so they just drop the book and choose to forget everything they read. This fact left him in the 6th spot, preceding Jung Soojung who acted as the witch in _Hansel and Gretel_.  


“I know!” Jongin chuckled proudly. He always felt proud of his name. “I searched my name in urban dictionaries and I loved it.”  


“Of course you did,” Baekhyun said, rolling his eyes. “You fucking narcissists eat pussies for breakfast.”  


“Or maybe you're just jealous because yours means ‘a woman’s act of sucking a man’s asshole,’” Jongin quipped.  


" _Excuse me_ ," Baekhyun said cuttingly. "The more formal definition is 'a man built like a house,' which is really poetic." 

Jongin stared at him. "You didn't scroll down, did you?" 

Baekhyun put all his hate at the glare he threw him. 

Jongin threw his arms up, surrendering. “Okay, fine, no jokes. Maybe it’s because of what the Cook told you?”  


Baekhyun stopped walking. “How did you know?”  


Jongin shrugged, continuing to walk, Baekhyun trailing behind him. “It’s called _the art of eavesdropping_.”  


The tanned man was long used to the smaller one’s glares, so he paid it no mind when he felt the smaller male start throwing daggers at the back of his head. He knew the farthest Baekhyun could punch was his chest, anyway.  


“You know what? Stop thinking about it,” he said. “It’s not like he can kill his best student.”  


“Stop putting it that way! You’re making me nervous.” Baekhyun tugged his tie uncomfortably, thinking of all the possible outcomes of his talk with the Master later. “He doesn’t just call students to chat and have tea together, you know.”  


And then Jongin remembered something. He stopped abruptly and turned around to face Baekhyun all in a blink of the latter’s eye. He laughed lightly when Baekhyun yelped at the sudden action. Pushing that aside, he leaned his face close to the brunette’s. Jongin didn’t miss the way Baekhyun’s eyes widened at the sudden intrusion of space. “Hey,” he breathed, “there’s a new café downtown and some say their coffees are superb. So yeah, I think you got the idea already, but I’d really like to check this one out with you.”  


Baekhyun's face was blank. “Um, no. I’m not feeling very generous right now.”  


“I mean, like a date. It’s on me,” Jongin said, smiling sheepishly, making Baekhyun stop.  


“Wha—Date... D-d-date...” Baekhyun choked, gaping at him dumbly, surprised at the invitation.  


“It’s a yes then?” Jongin said, hopeful.  


“H-huh?” Baekhyun turned beet red. No, no no no. Of course not—  


“Cool.” Jongin grinned in victory. Well, that wasn’t so hard. “I have to go. Yibo called for soccer practice. See ya.” Then he sped off.  


Oh how he loved seeing Baekhyun flustered.  


-  
-

  


Baekhyun didn’t know what he’s nervous about: his meeting with the Master or Jongin’s not-so-subtle invitation for a date, which he so stupidly agreed on.  


The brunet walked into his first class in a daze. Not that anyone had noticed. No one except Yixing—sweet, innocent Yixing, who could never lift a hand on anyone no matter what they do to him. So when Baekhyun tried to hand his bag on the back of his seat and failed, Yixing was there to catch it, holding it by the strap just in time before it hit the floor.  


Yixing looked at the startled Baekhyun with concern. “Are you okay?”  


“Yeah,” Baekhyun mumbled in reply, sitting stiffly on his seat. “Yeah, I’m cool.”  


Yixing didn't look convinced, but he didn't press the issue further. Baekhyun silently thanked him for that. 

The class had gone smoothly, and with smoothly, it meant Baekhyun sleeping the sound of the teacher's irritating voice off and letting his mind wander. His thoughts went like this: Master... incentives... Jongin... Jongin... date... Master... formula... sex... 

Then he started wondering how he could mathematically explain raindrops. _Raindrops are mathematically impossible. Liquids hate surfaces because they're bound by the laws of intermolecular attraction. Surfaces require more free energy to make than volumes (surface is totalG = A, volume is totalG = V RT/nS). For large amounts of water, the energy you get from the volume is more than enough to make up for the energy cost due to the surface area. Cubing tends to make numbers bigger than squaring, but for really small numbers—_

Baekhyun woke up from his daze when he heard the bell ring. So much for alarm clocks. 

At the corner of his eye he saw Kyungsoo, his friend, walking towards him. He turned his head to look at him and prepared to greet, but the owl-eyed male was looking past him. He followed his gaze and saw Yixing walking out of the classroom a little clumsily. Baekhyun laughed internally. 

“A stupid one, he is,” Kyungsoo said, referring to Yixing. “He thinks that a kiss is as simple as hi-hello.”  


“He’s not stupid,” Baekhyun belted, slinging his backpack over his shoulder. “Yixing is just… innocent.”  


“Um, I don’t know if you know this, but one time he left his food hanging, and he came back with a bunch of ants feasting on it. Instead of wiping them away, he leaned over and coaxed the ants into leaving.”  


“Pretty sure it worked,” Baekhyun mumbled, although he was sure of the opposite.  


“Ugh. You didn’t hear him. He literally babied the ants into leaving their paradise. As if they’d do it,” Kyungsoo said, exasperated. “ _’My babies, please, shooooo, daddy is going to eat now…’_ ”  


"Is that a bad thing," Baekhyun asked rhetorically. "I mean, he just didn't want to hurt them . . ." 

"He's a grown man, Baek," Kyungsoo said, face-palming. "How am I supposed to read daddy kink fics now?" 

Baekhyun kindly ignored this. 

“But in the end, he still ended up eating his lunch, right?” Baekhyun guessed, not even sure why he’s defending the innocent guy.  


“No. He ended up getting a bunch of ant bites. Now come on.”  


Baekhyun let Kyungsoo drag him all the way to the Library. 

-  
-

  


Baekhyun clearly didn’t know what he was expecting.  


Aside from the abnormally long black robes, the Master looked average. He looked like your average villain, like a Downworlder dressed in fine robes for a musical. No beards, no long hair, no wrinkles. Somehow, for a man who’d lived longer than the Mayan civilization, he looked young, though not younger than Baekhyun, and he still had that youthful aura surrounding him. His smile hinted an eerie playfulness when Baekhyun entered the room, and it was creeping the latter out for a while.  


“There goes my favorite Villain,” the Master said as soon as Baekhyun entered. He raised his golden goblet, offering. “Would you like a drink?” 

Baekhyun firmly shook his head. “I’m sorry, sir. I don’t drink alcohol.” 

“This isn’t alcohol. It’s tea from the best farmers in the world!” the Master said cheerfully, and Baekhyun took back the part where he said the Master didn’t invite people to just have tea and talk. “You’ll be missing half of your life if you don’t drink it!” 

That sounded like a sales-talk. “I don’t—” 

“What? You don’t drink tea?” the Master asked, incredulous. “But it’s very refreshing! And no one doesn’t like teas!” 

Baekhyun pursed his lips. “I was going to say I don’t think I should.” 

“Hn? Why?” 

“Isn’t that a little too casual? And I don’t even have a mug with me,” Baekhyun mumbled. 

But the Master was adamant. “I’m casual. We’re casual. Let’s be casual,” he said and motioned to his cup. “Drink from my cup, here.” 

Baekhyun ended up drinking it. And true to his words, the tea was magnificent. But the tea wasn’t what he came for. 

Turning to the Master once again, he carefully placed the cup on a nearby table and bowed. “May I have the pleasure to know what you summoned me for, my Lord?” 

“Oh. Right. I almost forgot about that,” the Master said, straightening his back. “But first, how was the tea?” 

“It’s nice,” Baekhyun answered impatiently. 

“It’s ‘nice’? Sure. Movies are nice. Fries are nice. Sex is nice.” The Master looked at him irritably. “Gods, that tea was magnificent, wonderful, delicious, healthy, superb, out of this world! How can you just tell me it’s nice!” 

Baekhyun lost his cool. “Look. It was refreshing, sure, but I did not just walk 2 kilometers off campus, almost miss the bus, and get my head whacked by that stupid Head Mistress of yours just to fucking talk about _tea_.” 

They were silent for a moment, and Baekhyun realized he just crossed the line. _Oh, fuck my life,_ he thought. _I’m as dead as Jongin’s toenail._

He was expecting the Master to spite him, but the man just laughed boisterously. Baekhyun looked at him, confused, but the Master just laughed harder. “So I’ve heard.” 

“What now?” 

The Master clicked his tongue. “That my best student is hot and feisty.” 

Baekhyun stared at him. “Excuse my rudeness, but you’re fucking me right now.” 

“One: not interested. Two… there’s no two. Yeah, that’s pretty much it.” The Master cleared his throat. “Anyway, let’s discuss why I called you here in the first place.” 

“About time,” Baekhyun groaned. 

“Hush, babe,” the Master said, chuckling. “I’m giving you another task. This one’s titled _The Tale of Kyungsoo and Baekhyun_.”  


“That’s very creative,” Baekhyun deadpanned. He immediately bit his tongue when he realized how rude it sounded. “But anyway, if you mean Do Kyungsoo the shopkeeper, then I can’t. I know that guy and he knows me too." He paused. "Actually, we’re friends.”  


“No, he doesn’t. He knows you as _Maleficent_ , _Queen Grimhilde_ , the _Queen of Hearts_ , and pretty much every pretty villain in his favorite fairytales, or his friend Bernard. He doesn’t know you as _the villain_ Baekhyun,” the Master stated with a flick of his hand.  


“He knows my face!”  


“So what?” the Master dismissed, indifference then replaced with a frown. “Besides, those movies ruined your face, you know.”  


Baekhyun winced at the mention of the Disney films. Anyone who’d seen him face to face would’ve laughed at the sight of his appearance in the movies. “But I thought I was on a break.”  


The Master blinked. “Who said what?”  


The petite villain groaned. He’d just assumed he was, since he just finished a fairytale about 12 hours ago, which was not very long. Villains receive another work after 12 _years_ , not 12 _hours_. While this was injustice in his part, he couldn’t just decline the job. When you get offered, you take it. It was necessary. And even if not, this was the Master. You dare decline someone this powerful when he walked the extra mile by letting himself be seen for the first time just to personally offer you a job?  


The Master cleared his throat when he received no response from the brunette. “By the way, you’ll be entering that one,” he said, pointing at one of the portals on the right side of the room, a portal shined by moonlight from one of the open curtains, visible enough despite the room being extremely dark.  


Baekhyun was beyond terrified.  


There are four types of portals: the Circle, the Triangle, the Box, and the Cross. Portals give hints on about how the way the story will end. The first one, the Circle, serves as a portal as for when the Villain gets killed by the hero or heroine. This is the most used portal, as dead Villains seemed to be the best ending for readers. Best example is _Hansel and Gretel_. The Triangle is for stories where the hero or heroine is cursed by the Villain, and thus making this the Villains’ favorite portal as it gives them from none to only brief role and exposure in the story. One of them is _Beauty and the Beast_. The Box is used if in the fairytale, the Villain is forgiven and parts in good terms with the protagonists. An example of this is _Cinderella_.  


The Cross, however, was the least used and the least wanted for Villains. This was because whenever a Villain enters this portal, they were never seen again. Some say that this portal was the most dangerous as it exposes Villains to other worlds, even other dimensions, where their immortality is void and disguise is useless.  


There was no going back from this portal.  


“T-The Cross?” Baekhyun stammered, heart hammering in his chest as if wanting to burst out. “But why _me_? I’m your goddamned best student!”  


“Because I want you to do it. Stop asking so many questions,” the Master said, feeling irritated. Baekhyun was beginning to think if this was a joke or not. Either way, it wasn’t funny. “It’s not like you’re gonna die in there or anything. . ." he paused. ". . . at least not intentionally.”  


Baekhyun did not quite like that last sentence. However, he didn’t like his set of options either, which were nonexistent.  


“Fine,” he accepts finally, looking back at the Master as he was about to enter the portal, “but at least tell me who the Prince is.”  


The Master looks at him with a smoldering look.  


“Park Chanyeol,” the Master grins, the name rolling off his tongue smoothly. “The Prince’s name is Park Chanyeol.”


	2. Once Upon a Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day it all started.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi. i just want you to know that this story will have some kind of officeau, royalau, and twisted historyau in the future chapters so if those aren't your thing, the door is open for you to leave. ^^  
> and also, this is going to have A LOT of quotes from classics, mostly from shakespeare too.

_Once upon a time, there was a Prince who was vain, wicked, and selfish. He always displayed a bad attitude around everyone he meets, especially towards slaves, and so a fairy put a curse on him. He was stripped of all his wealth and royalty, cursed and forgotten, and became the slave of thousands, the slave of all slaves, the lowest of the lowest. The fairy told him that the only time he will be lifted of his curse is when he repents for his sins, and more importantly, learns to love.  
_

_The Prince’s name was—_

“Do Kyungsoo!” A man’s voice boomed, face evident of anger, voice wavering of old age. He took support on his cane as he limped around the house, looking for a certain worker. 

Meanwhile, the said worker sat comfortably on his stool, leaning on a wall, casually sipping on a cup of tea as he read _The Chronicles of Narnia_. He didn’t mind the booming voice that reached his ears as the floor shook, nor the sound of the door being forced open as he was just turning the page to 45. But he didn’t like it when the pocket book was suddenly ripped from his hands, either. 

“Slacking off again! How many times do I have to tell you to _work_?!” comes Mr. Silverwood’s line when he finally got hold of the boy. Kyungsoo had already memorized the exact words, in exact order, and exact tone the old man always used whenever he takes a break. He never listens, though. He just stares at the man until the latter pants from too much shouting and gives up, but usually with a threat to fire him. 

“You, young man, are fired! Get out! Get out!” There it goes. But Kyungsoo remained still and unfazed, despite the life-threatening statement the man had just shouted. Because usually, a certain man would choose to enter around this time and save his ass from getting kicked out. And with _usually_ , it meant _all the time_. 

Kyungsoo counted three seconds. _One . . . two . . . three . . ._

Or maybe not. Kyungsoo was beyond pissed. How could he not show up this time? Jace _fucking_ Silverwood knew the old man always had a tantrum around 3 o’clock in the fucking afternoon! 

When the entrance bell rang, Kyungsoo’s uneasiness faded. Expecting to see Jace, both men turned to face him. “Well, about time—” 

But who they saw did not even look like Jace at all. 

“Good afternoon,” greeted the man, his deep voice resonating across the room. Upon seeing the man Kyungsoo’s heart began to race. His eyes traced his tall, slender figure, from his raven black hair that had tousled griminess which described finesse down to his black leather shoes which were shiny enough to let him see his own reflection. The man was much taller than Kyungsoo, his eyes deep and catastrophic, his pale skin making him look so devilishly handsome. 

Kyungsoo had never seen a man this gorgeous before. 

“I kept knocking at the door, but no one was answering. I decided to come in since the sign said you were open,” the man said, eyebrows curved in confusion. “Am I interrupting something?” 

Mr. Silverwood quickly dropped his hands and bowed politely at their customer. “No, sir! O-of course not! Please do come in. Kyungsoo here will be the one to attend you.” Mr. Silverwood motioned at Kyungsoo, which made Kyungsoo snap back from his thoughts and blink abnormally. 

Looking at the Mr. Silverwood’s crooked hand that was pointing at him, Kyungsoo unconsciously pointed at himself in confusion too. “Me?” 

The gorgeous man smiled. “In that case I guess I’d have to introduce myself, then. I’m Park Chanyeol.” 

Park Chanyeol held out his hand for a handshake, and Kyungsoo stared at it for a few seconds too mesmerized. After realizing his awkward staring he immediately took the man’s hand for a handshake. It was rough to the touch, leaving Kyungsoo a tingling sensation. “K-Kyungsoo. Do Kyungsoo.” 

They shook hands. “Nice to meet you.” 

“Wonderful!” Mr. Silverwood exclaimed, clapping his hands once in delight. He then ushered the two inside the bookstore, pushing them both behind their backs in excitement, contrary to what Kyungsoo was feeling: awkward. He need not to tell that though. Especially in front of a smoking hot guy. 

Before leaving the two alone, Mr. Silverwood leaned down close to Kyungsoo’s ear and whispered, careful enough not to let the customer hear what he was saying. “Entertain that customer well. If you get him to buy a book or two, I might rethink about firing you.” 

Kyungsoo shrugged. It didn’t matter if he loses his job anymore. He was already planning to charm the man into romance anyway. 

Oops. He did not just think of that. 

After watching Mr. Silverwood exit the shop, the little shopkeeper galumphed towards the gorgeous customer, quirking his lips in interest. Despite his obvious effort at getting noticed, Chanyeol didn’t even bother to look back at him or even spare him a glance. The man is probably either too engrossed on the book he was checking out, or had zero interest in him. Both were equally disappointing. 

Seeing that the man wasn’t going to acknowledge his presence soon, Kyungsoo made the first move. He went to Chanyeol’s side and started checking out the books in that corner, purposely leaning a little lower than normal and subtly sticking his butt out for the man to see. He was well aware that Chanyeol was looking at him right now, so he took that advantage and licked his lips not-so-innocently. 

To make his act more believable and his seduction a little less obvious, he picked a random book up and started reading it, smirking a little when he felt Chanyeol staring at him. 

He didn’t see Chanyeol’s eyebrows raise. “Didn’t know you can read upside-down.” 

Kyungsoo flinched, but maintained his poise. “It’s a talent.” 

“Hn,” Chanyeol hummed in response, closing his own book and putting it back to the shelf. “Do you have a copy of _Lysistrata_?” 

“Huh?” Kyungsoo was stunned for a moment, then blinked. “Oh. Yes. Here, let me show you,” he said and started walking towards one of the bookshelves, scolding himself for being so stiff. He picked the purple book up and handed it to Chanyeol. 

“You know, you were the first to ask for a copy of that,” Kyungsoo said, eyeing the book. 

Chanyeol hummed. “Well, your customers are obviously missing a lot.” 

“Why? No one doesn’t even read those kind of books anymore,” Kyungsoo said, but nevertheless smiled. 

“Well, here I am,” Chanyeol said, shrugging. “Have you read it?” 

“Ugh, no. I tried, once, but I really don’t speak ancient Babylon,” Kyungsoo joked, groaning. 

Chanyeol dismissed the thought that Babylon wasn’t a language and just shrugged. 

“I really hope you two aren’t planning to do the unspeakable right now,” said a voice. 

Both males turned to see Jongin leaning on the doorframe, a smirk playing on his lips as he scrutinized the appearance of the man beside Kyungsoo. He fixed the position of his sports bag on his shoulder and walked towards the two. “Your boyfriend?” 

“Soon,” Kyungsoo answered almost immediately, sending a wink at Chanyeol’s direction. Chanyeol glanced at him, but didn’t say anything more. 

“I see,” Jongin said, biting back a laugh. “I assume dad didn’t threaten to fire you today?” 

“On the contrary, he did,” Kyungsoo replied, then glanced at Chanyeol. “Apparently, this guy saved me from being homeless.” 

Jongin nodded. “I’m sure he did,” he said, then looked at the book the man was holding. 

Chanyeol followed his gaze and raised the book. “What?” 

“Nothing. I just think I saw that book somewhere,” Jongin said absentmindedly. 

“’Course you did,” Kyungsoo scoffed. “You live in a bookstore, dimwit.” 

Jongin raised an eyebrow. “Right,” he said, shrugging, then started walking towards the door leading upstairs. “Don’t forget to wear condoms— oh, I think I hid one in the cash register—” 

_“Jace.”_

“Yes, I’m leaving now,” Jongin said, then disappeared. 

The two were silent for a moment, then Chanyeol laughed. Kyungsoo bit his lips but couldn’t stop himself from snickering. “Was that the shop owner’s son?” 

“Yes,” Kyungsoo answered, humming, then they started walking towards the counter. “Jace Silverwood, if you’re asking.” 

Chanyeol placed the book on top of the counter and watched as Kyungsoo pressed some buttons on the cash register. “Holy shit— why is there a condom in the cash register?” 

“Well, the guy did mention hiding one in there,” Chanyeol said plainly. 

Kyungsoo groaned and threw the thing to the trash bin. He took the book and punched it. When Chanyeol fished his wallet out and took some money, he didn’t notice Kyungsoo slipping a piece of paper in one of the book’s pages. “Here.” 

Kyungsoo smiled coyly. “Guess I won’t be losing my job after all.” 

\--

_One day, the Prince unknowingly met the person that he was looking for._

\--

Baekhyun found himself sitting on his desk in History class. 

That would’ve been the weirdest part of the day, because Baekhyun never attends his History classes. Aside from the period being boring all the way to the end, he was alive long enough to personally witness those events (revelation: it sucked) and he couldn’t stand the fallacies stated on the books. If Baekhyun was a producer, he would’ve featured those on _Shits that Never Happened_. 

_Next on Shits that Never Happened: Hitler bred an army of talking dogs!_

Except that wasn’t the weirdest part of the day.

After class, he didn’t see Jongin anywhere, even when he tried catching the male’s soccer practice. Was he sick? Did something happen to him? Then Baekhyun realized that he didn’t mind, because this was a blessing in disguise. He wasn’t ready to face Jongin.  


Who would have? He looked like he had just packed his luggage overnight and decided to hang them on his eyes, Kyungsoo said he was walking like the undead, and when he looked at the mirror he realized he didn’t even bother to comb his hair. When Kyungsoo asked him about it, he just told the guy he was trying the sexy bedroom look.  


Jongin knew he had work after school, so the guy chose 9PM tonight and Baekhyun simply agreed. Baekhyun banged his head on one of the lockers because of his stupidity. He was already panicking internally. _What should I do? Can eyeliners hide eye bags?_  


He went to work in the same spirit.  


“What’s happened to you?” Jessica asked as soon as he entered the kitchen. “You look like you fought the Lion King or something.”  


“’I’ve been caught in a stampede’ is a better comparison,” Baekhyun suggested, putting his apron on. “Although I’m not sure why we’re using Lion King references right now.”  


“I said pretty much the same thing,” Jessica said. “With much less sarcasm.”  


Baekhyun started slicing a pizza into 8 pieces. “I have a date tonight.”  


“And that explains your face because?” Jessica probed, eyebrows furrowing.  


“Because I’ve never been on a date before?” Baekhyun answered. He wasn’t lying, but mostly he couldn’t sleep last night because there’s the matter of the Star Portal.  


“Oh, perfect! I’ll dress you up real nice later, darling,” Jessica offered, which he gladly accepted. “By the way, you have boxes to deliver over there,” Jessica informed him.  


“Address?”  


Jessica laughed brightly, as if the question was a joke. “The usual.”

  


“Oh dearest Norse gods,” Baekhyun grumbled as he harshly put the stack of 4 boxes of pizzas at the compartment behind his scooter. “I’m a full-time Villain, part-time student, and part-time pizza delivery man. I’m so fucking talented, why is it not coming out of my pay.”  


“Because the world doesn’t need delivery men, boy,” he hears Henry sneer, chucking another box of pizza in his own compartment. “You know what it needs? Weeds. It needs weeds.”  


“Is this the part where you tell me you’re a part of a gang called Marijuana Boys,” Baekhyun says tonelessly. “Because I pass.”  


“Don’t worry, boy. If I had a gang, I’d name it something cooler,” Henry replies, starting his own scooter. “Like Millennium Vampires or Aromatic Tapers.”  


“I doubt any gang name that’s synonymous to scented candles sounds badass,” Baekhyun says, holding his round red helmet. “And no offense, but vampires suck. No pun intended.”  


“Avada Kedavra,” Henry sang.  


If Henry said anything more, Baekhyun didn’t hear it. He sees the man grin at him before scooting off, leaving black smoke from the unattended scooter he was riding on. It wasn’t long before Baekhyun followed, turning to the opposite direction with a certain place in mind.

  


When Baekhyun arrived at Park Empires, the employees greeted him enthusiastically. He noticed that he was seeing them a lot more often than before.  


The receptionist saw him long before he got near to the counter and immediately gave him a welcoming smile. “You’re here again. Delivery to the 5th floor?”  


“Yeah.” Baekhyun smiled back. “Still don’t know who orders it though.”  


Yoona, as the woman’s name tag showed, frowned. “You don’t?” she asked, confused. “Maybe it’s the Editor. His office is in the 5th floor.”  


“Well, your Editor seems to like tasteless pizzas,” he said, then muttered a thanks before making a beeline for the elevator.  


The elevator stopped with a ting! that made Baekhyun cringe. Oh god, how he hated that sound. He hastily walked to the front desk and placed the boxes of pizza on the counter, startling the lady on the opposite side. “Delivery for . . .” Baekhyun checked the receipt. “I think it’s—”  


“Oh, I think it’s the delivery for the CEO!” the woman said to her co-worker beside her, giggling. Then she turned to Baekhyun. “He’s out. Just leave it there. Here’s the payment though.”  


CEO? Baekhyun could've understood if it were just a random worker or employee, but a CEO? Such a man could've gone with a good brand rather than their cheap priced pizzas! 

Baekhyun took the cash and left, putting the question at the back of his mind. It wasn't his business anyway.  


-  
-  


“I really don’t understand why you’re a virgin,” he heard Jessica say behind him.  


Baekhyun looked at his bare body on the mirror once again. “Are you saying I’m sexy?”  


Jessica clicked her tongue, but didn’t say anything. Instead she opened her backpack and grabbed skin-tight jeans and a top. Baekhyun didn’t know what it was called. “Wear this.”  


“I don’t think it fits me,” Baekhyun mumbled as he examined the clothes.  


“Oh please. I’m pretty sure you and Taehyung are the same size,” Jessica said, then pushed him towards the bathroom. “Now change!”  


Once Baekhyun was done, Jessica put very light makeup on him just to enhance his eyes. Then she tousled his hair just right to ‘give off the “fuck me” vibe’— her words, not his.  


“I can’t believe no one ever gave you something on Valentine’s Day,” Jessica said as soon as she finished.  


“Well, once there was this girl who asked me for a date through a letter inside a scented envelope.”  


“Please don’t tell me you said no,” Jessica pleaded.  


“Not exactly. I just told her the envelope smelled like my grandmother.”  


Jessica stared at him. “On second thought, I think I understand now.”

  


If someone told Baekhyun that Jongin had the best taste in finding places to have a date in, he would have laughed his pretty ass off and disagree. 

But the café was _absolutely_ beautiful. He had walked his legs off for half an hour just to get here because he was embarrassingly broke, but the sight was worth it. The café was like a real life Italian Cibrèo Trattoria painting, yellow light shining from the inside that made the café stand out amongst the boring lane of stores. 

“Why pick such a fancy place . . .” Baekhyun murmured, walking while still a little dazed because of the café’s beauty. “That guy, really . . .” 

The sound of a bell was heard as soon as he opened the oak wood door, and Baekhyun made a face. Why he kept encountering those kind of sounds, he didn’t know. 

Slowly, he closed the door and took a look at the place. Almost every table was occupied because the café was only newly-opened and gave off discounts for the first customers, so when he saw an empty table for two, he immediately took it. 

Baekhyun checked his watch and realized he was fifteen minutes late. So where was Jongin? If he was here, he would have called him to a table already. “Don’t tell me you fucking ditched me . . .” he mumbled. “Ugh, that asshat, really.” 

Generously deciding to wait for his date for thirty minutes, Baekhyun called a waiter and recited his order. If Jongin wasn’t going to show up, might as well try their ‘superb’ coffee that the guy was talking about, right? 

His order arrived shortly after, and Jongin still hasn’t arrived. Baekhyun was starting to overthink. Was his invitation a joke or was it an illusion? 

“At least their coffee _is_ superb,” he commented, mildly impressed. He was relieved that he didn’t walk half an hour for nothing. He was then reminded of his talk with the Master, of the tea he offered him. “Everyone so addicted to caffeine these days . . .” 

He was about to take another sip of his Café Au Lait when his phone suddenly vibrated, startling him and causing him to spill coffee on his lap. Baekhyun stood up abruptly and groaned. “Oh for goodness’ sake. I walked almost 2 miles to get here, then I was ditched by my date and I end up spilling coffee on my godforsaken co-worker’s brother’s designer jeans. Great. Terrific!” 

Taking a thin piece of tissue on the tissue holder, he made a beeline for the restroom with only his coffee and backpack to save his seat. 

  


When Chanyeol arrived in his office, he was greeted by a bunch of paperwork that he did not remember being there when he left a while ago. Pissed off, he fished his phone out of his pocket and dialed a set of numbers. 

“What the fuck is this?” Chanyeol said as soon as the man picked up the phone. 

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” the man said flatly. 

Chanyeol grunted. “I don’t fucking remember leaving a bunch of unfinished paperwork on my table two hours ago, Oh Sehun.” 

“Oh?” Sehun said. “Oh. That’s mine—” 

“—Yes, it is,” Chanyeol hissed. 

“—and I’m passing it to you,” Sehun finished simply, which irked Chanyeol even more. 

“And may I ask why the hell are you doing that?” 

“Yes, you may.” 

“Then fucking tell me why.” 

“Sharing is cari—” 

“ _Oh Sehun_ ,” Chanyeol growled in a threatening voice. 

He heard Sehun sigh from the other line. “Because—technically—it’s _your_ job.” 

“I thought we already talked about this—” 

“You mean you dropped it on my table and looked at me with your eyes screaming ‘do this’? No, I don’t think so.” 

Chanyeol was silent for a moment. What was a CEO supposed to do with a child like this? Sure, they were friends, but there's a line between business and personal matters that shouldn't be crossed. He wasn't going to let this go just because this guy, no matter how much of an ass he is, is his friend. "I'm so fucking done with you, Oh. You're fired—" 

Sehun laughed loudly, and it sounded forced. “What are you talking about! _Of course_ I’m joking! The wind must have blown the papers from my table to yours so I’m coming back tomorrow to finish those, okay?” 

The CEO ended the call without even bothering to answer. “Brat.” 

Looking at the state of his office was stressful. Chanyeol had always been a neat freak, and he can even spot a misplaced object in his place 10 meters away. Sehun’s papers were scattered on his table, there was a trail of cookie crumbs on the floor, and four boxes of pizza that were stacked— 

Wait. Pizza boxes? 

Chanyeol ran a hand across his hair exasperatedly. “Goddamn it, I forgot.” 

He sat on his swivel chair, breathing deeply, then opened his laptop. His head started to hurt when he saw dozens of emails needing to be read, most of them about the issue of associating with the other company. Chanyeol opened one from his secretary, which was asking him to sign a contract about something he didn’t understand. His vision was starting to blur. 

“You might want a break,” said Junmyeon at the door Chanyeol didn’t even notice was opened. “I can see you’re this close to exploding.” 

“No, thank you,” Chanyeol muttered. 

“You know, there’s a new café down the block. You might want to go there and leave your boring office for a while,” his secretary suggested. 

“I just left my office to buy a book, Junmyeon,” he replied. 

Junmyeon pursed his lips. “Just saying,” he said tentatively. Well, he did what he could. He was about to close the door when Chanyeol called him. 

“Yes, sir?” he asked. “Do you need anything?” 

Chanyeol glanced at him. “Get my car. I’ll go down in a minute.” 

  


After fifteen minutes of driving, he finally found the place. He parked in front of the café that his secretary was talking about and contemplated whether he was going in or not. Looking up at the header, he mumbled, “ _Royal Café_. Couldn’t have thought of a better name.” 

Grabbing the book he bought earlier, Chanyeol closed the door of his black Continental GT and walked inside the place, deciding to read his new book while drinking coffee. Yep, that sounds like a perfect break from work, all right.

He looked for an empty seat and saw one with an abandoned backpack and an unfinished coffee. Clicking his tongue, he sat on the chair opposite the one occupied by the backpack and called a waitress to order.

"Americano," he said shortly, and the waitress nodded in understanding. He took out his book and was about to read when someone harshly tapped his shoulder thrice. 

He turned at the stranger sharply, about to starkly ask what the fuck their problem is, but he was met by a beautiful face staring down at him with a scowl. 

 

Baekhyun kept wiping on his stained jeans uselessly. "How the hell am I going to explain this to Jess," he whispered to himself. After a few more tries, he gave up and ended up seeking the help of the mighty hand dryer. 

At the middle of drying the coffee stain, he decided to call his bastard of a date. The phone rang for a couple of times before directing him to voicemail. He tried for a few more times before giving up, cursing and killing Jongin twenty times in his mind. In twenty different ways.

He left the restroom after the coffee stain had completely dried up only to find a stranger sitting on his table.

"What . . ." Baekhyun stared dumbly at the man who was about to read a book— what? By the name of Jongin, the bastard even had the guts to read a book on his seat!

Fuming, Baekhyun approached the man and tapped his shoulder harshly. The man turned to around frowning, but his face immediately changed from annoyed to surprised real quick. 

Baekhyun was dumbstruck for a second. This man was no doubt one of those annoying people who were raised with a golden spoon in their mouth, but hell, this man looked an ocean more than that. This man looked like he ate golden spoons for breakfast.

Of course he was only talking about the aura, because in fact, the man's face wasn't even close to looking like he ate spoons. The man was undeniably attractive, even for Baekhyun. His eyes were a dark shade of blue, which was unusual, and in this close proximity he could testify that the man had a flawless complexion like he'd never experienced the horrors of acne before.

But Baekhyun didn't let himself sway. He crossed his arms and glared at the stranger. "That's my seat."

The handsome man—fuck, okay, he did find him handsome—blinked, then his lips formed a smirk.

Baekhyun knew immediately that he was _not_ going to like this.

  


"That's my seat."

Snapping out of his reverie, Chanyeol found himself smirking. Based off the frown in his eyebrows and the cute pout he was sporting that he was probably not aware of, Chanyeol had the feeling that it'll be fun teasing this brunet. 

He blankly glanced at the chair he was sitting on and shrugged. "I don't see your name on it."

"It will be written in your blood if you don't get the fuck up."

Chanyeol chuckled at the response, then gestured at the seat occupied by what he guessed was this beautiful boy's backpack. "Why don't you sit on that chair instead?"

The boy frowned. "I have a date and you're sitting on his seat."

Raising his eyebrows, Chanyeol looked around the café. "I don't see anybody who fits the description, 'your date'. Well, except me, that is." 

The brunet paused, ignoring the last sentence, eyes wandering. "He'll—He'll be here in a minute."

Chanyeol didn't look convinced. "Then let's have a countdown," he challenged, leaning back on his seat. He raised his hand and started counting using his fingers. "One, two, three, four—"

The brunet sat on the opposite chair, rolling his eyes. Chanyeol looked amused.He watched intently as the brunet absentmindedly grabbed his Americano and took a sip, seemingly pre-occupied by something concerning what Chanyeol guessed was his date. Then the brunet’s face suddenly morphed into something akin to horror after another two sips. 

He put the cup down harshly and shoved it back to Chanyeol. “Christ! Why didn’t you tell me?!”

Chanyeol smirked. “Well, I do believe in indirect kisses.”>/p>

“You—fuck—I’m—ugh!” the brunet grunted in utter annoyance. “I’m leaving!”

He stood up abruptly, taking his backpack with him. He was about to take a step when Chanyeol grabbed his wrist and looked at him pleadingly. ”Wait— babe, don’t leave me!”

The brunet gaped at him in shock— then people started murmuring around them, looking at them with malicious looks—specifically, at the brunet—and Chanyeol smiled triumphantly. _Gotcha._

  


What.

The.

FUCKKKKKKKKKKK?!?!?!??!?!?!?

Did this guy just call him babe? Obviously, he did, because right now people were giving him looks that were implying “oh, he’s leaving his date. What a heartless bitch,” which isn’t true because one: this man isn’t his date because his actual date fucking ditched him and two: he’s not a bitch.

Yes, that’s his problem at the moment.

Baekhyun glared at this (gorgeous) man. The guy has great acting skills, huh. Well, two can play this game.

“Oh, really now?!” he snapped in an angry tone. “Well, guess what? I’m so fucking done with you! You _cheated_ on me!”

For a second he saw the man’s lip curl up in a grin, but that was only probably his imagination. Yep. Totally.

“What are you talking about?” The man tries to pull him closer, but he didn’t budge. “I never cheated on you!”

“Then how will you explain this!” He searched his bag for a picture and showed it to the man. It was actually an unflattering picture of Jongin with a spaghetti strand hanging from inside his nose. He kept it primarily for blackmailing purposes, but he figured it would be useful now since people probably won’t be able to see it clearly from afar. 

The man stared at the picture, and bit back a laugh. “T-That’s my sister, okay? It just looked like we’re in a romantic position because of the angle but I’ve only ever kissed you, I promise!”

Baekhyun almost puked. “You’re such a jerk!” he lamely said and walked out angrily for a dramatic exit. He sensed the bastard following him out but he just ignored him because he supposedly got cheated on.

But not really. 

As soon as he exited the shop he just started walking fast. He didn’t know which direction he was walking but this was certainly not the way home. If he turns around he will surely bump on that rich asshole, which—which he didn’t need to do because he was 100% sure that the hand that suddenly pulled him back belonged to that certain devil.

“For a short person, you sure walk fast, babe,” the man said with a taunting smile that Baekhyun suddenly had the urge to wipe off. 

Baekhyun glared at him. He doesn’t really appreciate his height getting insulted. “No, you’re just really slow. And rule number one: don’t call me babe.”

“And rule number two: it’s a free country so I can call you what I want,” the man simply replied. “Besides, my legs are really long, so trust me when I say when you walk fast, babe.”

“Stop calling me babe, will you?!” Baekhyun snapped. 

The man smirked at him. He put his hand below the brunet’s chin and tilted his head to face him. “Aren’t you such a princess,” he cooed.

“Just stop with the nicknames!” 

“Nope. Not happening.” The man casually put his hands on his pockets. “I don’t really know your name. You never told me, so I’ll keep calling you . . .” he pondered for a moment. “Princess. Princess suits you better, don’t you think?”

Baekhyun stared at him. “Is this your excuse to know my name?”

“Probably,” the man answered with a grin.

Baekhyun stared at him, scrutinizing. Well, he wouldn’t want to be called Princess all the time, would he? Especially when he’s a Villain, and a male. “Baekhyun—” he said then stopped himself. “I mean Ber…nard.” 

The man looked at him with a smug smile. “Baekhyun it is, then.”

He scowled at him. “I just said my name is Bernard.”

The giant raised an eyebrow at him. “One thing you learn from meeting with fake people every day is that most of the time, words proceeding the phrase ‘I mean’ aren’t actually true.”

He groaned. He hated it when someone who’s not him is right.

They walked in silence for a few seconds, until the man spoke. “My name’s Park Chanyeol.”

Park Chanyeol . . . Now where did he hear that name before? Baekhyun glanced at him but kept walking. “I didn’t ask.”

“You didn’t need to,” Chanyeol said with a smirk playing in his lips. “You wanted to know it, didn’t you?”

“I did not!”

“Believe me babe, you were making this face that screamed ‘What’s yours? Can I get your number?’” 

Baekhyun reddened in annoyance, because this was actually true (except for the number part), which the bastard took delight in. Unable to control his anger anymore, Baekhyun took off his left shoe and threw it at Chanyeol, aiming for the head. Unfortunately for him, the latter had fast reflexes, dodging the object with ease.

However, it wasn’t the same for Chanyeol’s Continental GT.

Baekhyun watched in horror as his shoe made contact with the expensive car’s windshield, making a huge crack at the upper left corner. Both of them were too shocked to make a sound, and Baekhyun could only close his eyes when the impact triggered the car alarm.

“Well . . .” Chanyeol said after a moment of silence, “. . . shit.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> why is it so hard writing in ao3. :/  
> especially when you're copy-pasting it from ms word. oh well  
> please excuse any weirdness. i'm still trying to get a hang of kyungsoo's character. not really used to writing that kind of personality hul  
> well, here's 5.2K words of pure bullcrap lol istg i'm never gonna make another chapter this long again


	3. Of Hopeless Romance and Empty Wallets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kyungsoo meets his Prince again. And Chanyeol may or may not have found another way to get to Baekhyun.

Had he already mentioned that he was hopelessly broke?

 

Well, he’s saying it now.

 

Baekhyun kept on rolling and rolling over on his bed after he found out the windshield’s replacement price. A string of curses were produced by his mouth as he scrolled down the page, every word mocking him, reminding him how screwed he was for breaking a luxury car’s windshield. He threw his phone away in exasperation, resorting to staring at the almightly ceiling to give him the right amount of money he needed— uh, maybe even more?

He was then reminded of the conversation he had with the man after he had broken his windshield. (Goddamnit, how many times is he going to repeat that sentence?)

 

They had stared stupidly at the car, having no idea what to do or what kind of Harry Potter spell they would have to incant to magically fix that crack in the windshield. Baekhyun had seriously contemplated on whether to call Dumbledore or not. Still dazed, he'd settled on a lame noise. "It's... it's broken..."

"No shit, Sherlock," Chanyeol had said, taking his blazer off as he walked towards his precious car. Despite the car having a large crack in its upper-left side, Baekhyun had observed, Chanyeol looked unfazed, as if the whole situation was something as normal as having eggs for dinner. "Wow, you must have been really annoyed."

"No shit, Sherlock," Baekhyun threw the man's words back at him. Although he wanted to inspect the damage he made because damn, he throws hard, he couldn't do it becase all he wanted right now is to run away and never come back. Like ever. If this had happened a week ago, he could've escaped this situation easily. He could just run and find a hidden portal in some random alleyway in form of a waste container or in one of the bookstores across the street that could only be accessed by Villains and voilà! He's gone, no problemo.

But no! That stupid Master of his just had to make him enter the Star portal, and now he couldn't find even a single portal back anywhere. Even the one he installed in his own house, gone! Just like that! Did they not know how much mundane money he worked for and saved just to install two toilets in his bathroom? (The first one was a portal. The second one was just... necessities.) 

Baekhyun hadn't noticed he was musing not-so-quietly as a train of profanities rolled off his tongue until Chanyeol called him out. "Baekhyun?"

"Yeah?" He had looked up, although still a little off. He looked at the man's face and nodded in understanding. "I'll pay for the damage. I won't run from it, I promise."

Chanyeol cocked an eyebrow. Baekhyun couldn't read what the latter was thinking, but he seemed unfazed. "You don't need—"

"I know, okay?" he said, groaning in exasperation. He just wanted to go home. Maybe tomorrow the windshield will heal itself. Maybe tomorrow he'll find a stash of cash in his non-existent wallet. Maybe tomorrow he's dead. Hopefully. "Just give me time."

 

Time. He asked for time, but he knew that no matter how many days or months or years of lifetimes the man was willing to give him, with his social status, he isn't going to get _this_ much money anytime soon.

A low growl of his tummy reminded him that he didn't have lunch yet since he took the morning shift on the café on the other side of the town. The manager gave him an early dismissal as there were not much customers today, which he was actually thankful for. He stood up from his little heaven and proceeded to his kitchen—sort of.

But then Baekhyun figures that he was just so unlucky this week the moment he opens one of the tattered cabinets and finds it empty. He forgot to buy groceries because he was busy fretting over the date. If he knew that Jongin wouldn't show up, he wouldn't have bothered. "Goddamn it."

He quickly changed his clothes and left the apartment to buy groceries. He'll just leave his problems to tomorrow's Byun Baekhyun.

 

***

 

He really shouldn't have bought an alarm clock.

Or even accept the clock that Jongin gave him as a gift on Christmas. Even if its design was cute. Even if it was Pororo. If only he knew then that Jongin will only use this object to disturb his beauty sleep, he never would have even bothered.

Regrets are truly always in the end.

"Wakey wakey! Rise and shine!" Jongin said as he put the ringing alarm clock close to Kyungsoo's ears, which startled the shorter male. However, Kyungsoo still refused to get up, so Jongin lifted Kyungsoo's blanket that was tightly wrapped around him, resulting in the shorter male to roll of the bed with a loud thud and a "Fuck you, Jace!".

"Not interested," Jongin said. He started to make the bed, purposely ignoring Kyungsoo's groans in pain and murmurs of insults directed to him. "Get up, you lazy fat-ass."

"I do not have a fat ass; Bernard does," Kyungsoo was quick to point out, groaning as he forced himself to stand up. "And why are you even waking me up so early in the morning?!"

Jongin cleared his throat. "It's not really morning anymore," he said as he gave one last pat on the bed before deeming it fixed. "So wake up before dad limps his way over here to wake you up personally."

"And what? Fire me? Right now, I don't really care. I need sleep and if he dares one step in this room, I am going to snap his neck." Kyungsoo hissed at the pain in his back, a result from the fall. "What time is it?"

"12 PM," Jongin answered, then changed his mind. "Actually, no. It's 11:55 to be exact, so you still have 5 minutes."

"5 minutes to what."

"5 minutes to prepare, because if you're still not out to buy groceries by 12 o'clock, he's going to kick your sorry ass out," Jongin said, smiling playfully. He was about to leave the room when he remembered something, so he stepped back a little then turned his head to look at the shorter male who was still lying on the floor. "And by the way, dad was asking for your number."

"Wha?" Kyungsoo asked groggily, sleepiness still dominating his body. When his brain fully processed what the taller male had said, he quickly shot up. "Don't you dare give it, Jace!"

This caused the said male to completely turn to him, catching his full attention. He raised an eyebrow questioningly. "Why?"

"Because if you do, I'm going to have to change my number," Kyungsoo said tiredly. "And I can't really change my number right now..."

Jongin stared at him for a moment, then sighed in defeat. "Okay," he said, then left.

When he heard the door close, he changed without bothering to take a bath. Not even brush his teeth. When Jace says his dad is going to do it, the man _will_ do it. Jace knows his dad like the back of his hand, which ironically should be the other way around. That's why Kyungsoo didn't question him when he said he'd kick his ass out in—in one minute, he saw the alarm clock show. With his zipper still open, Kyungsoo quickly bolted towards the window and jumped.

Unfortunately, the fall did not kill him. He was saved by the canopy that hung just above their bookshop, and for once he was thankful that his room was just directly above the store. He carefully hopped off the canopy and landed smoothly on the side of the road, ignoring the weird looks he got from the bystanders that were watching him.

"What're you looking at?" he asked, loud enough for them to hear him, and they all turned away.

Serves them right.

 

Of course he just had to forget his wallet. 

Of all things! _Of all things!_ He forgot the one that was most important. "Freaking hell," Kyungsoo muttered as he observed the people in the supermarket, pushing their own carts without paying even the slightest attention to him. He looked at his own cart that was full of vegetables and all other things that Jace wouldn't eat. That guy is as picky as he was gorgeous.

It was finally his turn to pay and he still hadn't found a solution to his dilemma. He only realized that he had no money when he saw the woman who paid first before him take out her wallet to pay. It was already too late, because he had already picked the things he needed to buy and he already strolled around for two hours. Two hours! He can't just give that up to get the money.

God. Where is Jace when you need him?

"That'd be $119.00, sir," the cashier said, waiting for him to hand out the money he didn't have. Kyungsoo looked around frantically, earning a look of doubt from the cashier. "Is there something wrong, sir?"

"Uh, yes," Kyungsoo blurted out. "Um, can I reserve this? I forgot—"

"I'm afraid we can't, sir," the cashier said, cutting him off as if she already knew what he was going to say. "Your purchases have already been punched. You need to pay now or we'll have to call the management."

Kyungsoo mentally groaned. He wasn't really religious, but he prayed to all the gods he knew to save him. "Please, just—"

"Now, sir, before I call the guards—"

"That won't be necessary."

Kyungsoo turned to look at the source of the voice and was shocked to see the man he had dreamt of ever since their first encounter. "Chanyeol!" he said, hopeful.

Chanyeol gave him a faint smile before proceeding to put his own items on along with the shorter male's purchases. "Can you put this along with his items? I'm kind of in a hurry."

The cashier was more than glad to heed to the request of a nice, gorgeous, _very nice_ stranger.

On the other hand, Kyungsoo was biting his lips to prevent himself from smiling too wide. Park Chanyeol had saved him again. He truly must be his Prince Charming, his Knight in Shining Armor, his Romeo, his Edward Cullen, everything! This meeting mustn't be just a coincidence. This must be fate bringing them together. He can _feel_ it.

The looks other women gave Chanyeol bothered him a little too much, though. Even though they still weren't together, he already felt possessive towards this man. Is this what they call jealousy? But jealousy is only for people in love, right? Does this mean he's in love?

It never slipped his mind that he was probably just assuming things, nor that it was probably too early to decide whatever he was feeling. All he knew was that this man in front of him is _his_. 

"Let's go?" Chanyeol said after he paid for the items, carrying six plastic bags, leaving the other two for Kyungsoo to carry. He can only take much. 

Kyungsoo nodded excitedly. Finally, a chance with him! He grabbed the remaining two plastic bags and followed Chanyeol on his way out, hopping joyfully at the thought. This man will be his. He's already calling dibs.

Chanyeol hasn't said anything as they walked, so Kyungsoo felt like it was up to him to strike a conversation. "Hey," he said, making the taller man glance at him. "Did you get it?"

"Get what?" Chanyeol looked confused for a second, but his frown turned into a look of realization when he looked at Kyungsoo's expecting eyes. "Oh. Yeah. You're sly. I didn't notice you slipping your number in one of the pages."

With this, Kyungsoo gave him a knowing grin. "Call me some time, aye?"

"Sure," Chanyeol said just for the sake of answering, but this was more of an assurance to the doe-eyed male. They reached the car park and Chanyeol quickly spotted his Maserati, giving the shorter male a look. "Should I give you a ride?" he asked politely, noticing that Kyungsoo wasn't really telling him where to put the plastic bags.

"Oh! Can I?" Kyungsoo said gleefully, but didn't even wait for an answer and just ran towards the car that he was a hundred percent sure was owned by Chanyeol. The taller man merely shook his head, but said nothing to stop the shorter guy from doing so. He was the one who offered, after all.

Kyungsoo made himself comfortable in the shotgun as Chanyeol arranged the plastic bags on the passenger seats. As Chanyeol did so, the doe-eyed boy couldn't help but marvel at the interior of the expensive car he was in. His Prince Charming is truly rich. It was nice to imagine his future as the man's husband. Other people might think of him as a childish, hormonal teenager but he couldn't help it. He had longed for this ever since he got out of _that_ place. 

He told Chanyeol his address as they drove. The ride was silent and it was starting to be uncomfortable for Kyungsoo, because Chanyeol wasn't talking at all. He doubted he even acknowledged his presence. So in the end, it was up again to Kyungsoo to start a conversation. "Did you try that café down the block? I heard their coffee was good."

Chanyeol smiled at the memory, which Kyungsoo took as a positive response. "Yeah. It was recommended by my secretary," he replied. "I liked their Café Au Lait," he added, then chuckled as if he said something funny. 

Although he didn't understand, Kyungsoo laughed along. "I want to try their Latte, but I have no one to go with."

"Why do you have to go with someone? You can go by yourself," Chanyeol said plainly, eyes still focused on the road.

"Well, I feel like I could enjoy it more with a company," Kyungsoo retorted, although with no hint of being offended. "I could ask Bernard, but I think Jace already asked him out..."

Chanyeol suddenly stepped on the breaks that would have sent Kyungsoo flying if not for his seatbelt. He felt a little dizzy, so he instinctively put a hand on his head to prevent it from toppling over. "What the hell, Chanyeol!"

"Traffic lights," Chanyeol said hastily, and for once he thanked the red stoplights for letting him use them as an excuse. "What was it again?"

"Uh, burgers?" Kyungsoo said, head still spinning from the sudden stop.

"No, about..." Chanyeol tried to think of a statement that would not give his intention away. "About the... Berna? Ben?"

"Bernard," Kyungsoo corrected, oblivious to the weird fact that Chanyeol had paid attention to something unrelated. "He's a friend of mine. Jace asked him out the other day, I think."

"And?" Chanyeol tried to sound uninterested, which had gone unnoticed by Kyungsoo again, who proceeded to ramble. 

"I was thinking of asking him to accompany me, but he lives at the apartment complex beside the hospital, which is really far away. Besides, he already went to the café," Kyungsoo added absentmindedly. "So, I'm thinking about asking you out..." he turned to Chanyeol who was already smiling, which fueled his hopes up.

Chanyeol glanced at him and shrugged. "I'll think about it."

_Apartment complex, huh._


	4. Trespass

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> what the hell am i writing

note: because i havent updated for a long time (sorry for that), here's a passage from the previous chapter just to remind you guys.

"I was thinking of asking him to accompany me, but he lives at the apartment complex beside the hospital, which is really far away. Besides, he already went to the café," Kyungsoo added absentmindedly. "So, I'm thinking about asking you out..." he turned to Chanyeol who was already smiling, which fueled his hopes up.

Chanyeol glanced at him and shrugged. "I'll think about it."

_Apartment complex, huh._

* * *

 

No words were exchanged after that short conversation and Kyungsoo's invitation to be his company to the café. Kyungsoo bid a short goodbye after Chanyeol dropped him off in front of the bookshop, with Jongin looking at them from the other side of the glass, greeting Kyungsoo albeit being a little confused. He acknowledged Chanyeol with a smile, while the latter gave him a slight nod before driving off. 

In truth, Chanyeol didn't want to accompany him. Aside from personal matters (like stalking a certain brunet), he also had piles of work left to do back in his company that he'd put aside for quite some time now. Sehun must have been suffering under the weight of Chanyeol's job and no matter how much of a spoiled brat that wretched child was, he still didn't want to abandon his responsibilities as a mundane CEO.

"Hospital... Hospital..." Chanyeol muttered as he looked left and right, checking the street signs to locate the hospital Kyungsoo was referring to earlier. His face brightens up when he saw a sign pointing right named "To Marygold Hospital".

However, he steps on the brakes when he catches sight of a short male walking on the sidewalk while carrying three small plastic bags, earning honks from angry drivers behind him. He pays them no heed and swerves to the direction of the brunet, smirking a little when he notices him nearing a large puddle of water.

 

Baekhyun walked like a homeless child on the sidewalk, grocery bags hanging soullessly in his side. He walked like a broken marionette, because one, he broke an expensive-as-fuck car's windshield and he's got about two dollars left in his pockets (that was an exaggeration, but you get the point). And two, he just realized that Chanyeol was _the_ Prince.

_"The Prince's name is Park Chanyeol."_

Goddamn it.

Is that why the man was always pestering him? Perhaps he was just testing the waters, finding Baekhyun's weakness so he can take him down and live his Happily Ever After. Yes, that must be it. But why was he calling the brunet a _princess_? That was the weirdest and the creepiest part of all. Imagine Cinderella's Prince calling her stepmother a princess. It was completely inappropriate.

Now he knows that Chanyeol is the enemy, but does the Prince know he is the Villain?

Probably not.

Baekhyun sighs as the thought passed his mind. He just wishes for the worst not to happen. The last time he let his guard down, he forgot his place and ended up getting his heart broken. 

Screw fairy tales.

Baekhyun was cut from his thoughts when water—fucking _mud_ —suddenly splashed in his feet and stained his shirt. His head whipped to find the culprit and saw Chanyeol's irritating face as the man peeked from the open car window. Baekhyun's eyes went from the CEO to his own body, face inscrutable. "Oh my god," Baekhyun finally says, gasping. "Chanyeol you insufferable dipshit!"

Chanyeol stopped the car and opened the door to the shotgun seat. "Need a ride, princess?"

Baekhyun gaped at him disbelievingly. "You did not just do that on purpose!"

Looking at him unfazed, Chanyeol shrugged. "Nothing to lose. Get in," he said welcomingly, making the brunet grit his teeth in annoyance.

"And what makes you think that I'll touch that fucking car of yours?" Baekhyun snapped, then suddenly he sees a middle-aged woman holding a young girl's hand, who looked at him confusedly. He gave them a faint smile, hoping that he didn't just corrupt the mind of a child as he waved at them. _Protect the innocent!_ "Uh, hello."

"Momma, what's fucking?" the girl asked her mother, who looked at her, shocked. Baekhyun swears he heard Chanyeol laughing inside his car.

"W-Where did you hear that, Yerin?" her mother exclaimed, then shot Baekhyun a glare. _Uh-oh._

The girl points at Baekhyun innocently, pouting slightly. "From that _ahjussi_ , Momma."

Baekhyun was certain that the woman was already plotting his death. The mother looked like she was panicking internally, so he stepped forward and leveled himself to the girl's height. "Uh," he said lamely. "It's a car brand, little girl," he answered, and when he receives a look of approval from the mother, he ruffled the girls hair and walked back towards Chanyeol's car.

The girl tugged at her mother's shirt. "Momma, I want a fucking car!"

Even passersby looked shocked.

To save himself from the wrath of the girl's mother, Baekhyun entered Chanyeol's Maserati and closed the door with haste. "Drive!" he barks, and Chanyeol laughed before finally starting the engine.

 

* * *

 

Eventually, Baekhyun found himself in front of his apartment complex without even telling Chanyeol where he lives. He exited the car with haste, forgetting to take his groceries with him, and started to walk off until he realized that Chanyeol was following him. So he turns around and his forehead unexpectedly meets the man's chin. He winced. "What are you doing!" He wasn't really asking. It was more of an exclamation.

Chanyeol answers it still, of course. "It's not my fault that you suddenly turned around and bumped on me, you know," he said.

"Why are you even following me?" Baekhyun exclaims, rubbing his forehead until he realizes, "How did you know where I live?!"

"Sources," Chanyeol answers dismissively. "You're not really that sly, Princess."

"Are you stalking me?" Baekhyun challenged. It was a rhetorical question—he knows Chanyeol would deny it anyway. They usually do. Maybe he just wanted a moment of authority over the wealthy CEO whose face screamed arrogance and elegance at the same time in everything he does. However, things never really turn out the way he imagined it.

Chanyeol smiled under Baekhyun's judging gaze. "I'd like to think of myself as a highly efficient admirer."

Flustered at the statement, Baekhyun gaped at him, cheeks reddening. "How can you say things so b-b-bluntly!" he stuttered, flailing his hands like a bird.

"Ah, did I say that out loud?" Chaneol feigned innocence.

Baekhyun looked at him skeptically. "You're an ass," he remarked.

This made the CEO's eyebrows raise, amused. "As a CEO, I refuse to be called anything synonymous to donkeys."

"News flash: no one cares. Now leave me alone," Baekhyun said before running into the building. However, Chanyeol, being his usual persuasive self, pretends not to hear anything and proceeds to follow suit. 

The brunet refused to look back to check if the man was still following him. The building forbids trespassers (aka people who do not live in there), so he was confident that by the time he reaches the front desk, Chanyeol wouldn't be at his tail anymore. His instincts are always right, anyway.

 

He's wrong.

Aparrently, the apartment complex had absolutely zero security. Oh, the cons of living in a cheap apartment. The receptionist probably thought that Chanyeol was his guest or a relative. Or worse, his boyfriend. He only realized this when he got to the elevator and saw the 168cm tall man stepping inside with him. Just thinking about it gives him a migraine. "Hell," Baekhyun groaned. "I told you to leave me alone!"

"Relax. What made you think I'm following you?" Chanyeol asked with a teasing smile. "I could have an apartment here too, you know."

"Well, do you?" Baekhyun inquired, raising an eyebrow demandingly.

"Um, no."

Baekhyun slapped his forehead in annoyance. "You can't just use something as an argument then deny it afterwards!"

"I was just stating the possibilities."

The elevator made a noise, and then the doors opened. Baekhyun was grateful because he couldn't stay inside there with the man any longer. He didn't even have the energy to have an altercation segment with the man anymore. He'd rather slit his throat.

In the end, Baekhyun decided, "to hell with it," and just let Chanyeol follow him to his apartment. Maybe if Chanyeol saw his pitiful apartment, he'll lose interest in stalking him. (Or maybe lend him some money to buy a palace or something. But then he remembers, he owes the man a few thousand dollars. He quickly discards the thought.)

" _This_ is where you stay?" Chanyeol asked as he looked around the room, occasionally furrowing his eyebrows and clicking his tongue whenever he sees something nasty. 

Baekhyun glanced at him, then put his groceries down. "You saying that and the fact that you're here is actually funny."

Chanyeol said nothing and made himself comfortable on the couch. He continued examining his surroundings as Baekhyun organized his things and moved around the apartment, ignoring Chanyeol completely.

"Can't you afford a better apartment?"

"If I could I wouldn't be staying here right now, would I?"

"You live alone?"

"Yes."

"Where's your family? Parents? Any siblings?" Chanyeol inquired.

He saw Baekhyun stiffen, but the brunet quickly brushed it off with what the CEO guessed was an attempt to nonchalantly shrug. "I live alone," he answers simply, and makes no effort to elaborate. He lives alone. Finished. End of story. _Drop it._

They were silent for a moment, save for the rustles of Baekhyun's plastic bags, and Chanyeol sighs lightly, low enough for the brunet not to hear it. "I'm hungry," Chanyeol unceremoniously announced. "What's in your fridge?"

"It's empty," the brunet replied.

"Your fridge is empty," Chanyeol repeats tonelessly.

"That's what I said."

"Why is it empty?"

"Because I have no fridge," Baekhyun answers.

"Wow," Chanyeol mused. "You must be really broke, huh."

"I _am_ broke," Baekhyun snapped.

"That's what I said."

Baekhyun rolled his eyes in defeat. Talking with Park Chanyeol was pure balderdash. 

There was another few seconds of silence. Chanyeol watched Baekhyun unload his groceries (which, he might add, looked really unhealthy) as he thought of something to say. “Look, if you really can’t, then don’t,” he said after a while, sighing. “I’m not really asking you to pay for it.”

Baekhyun paused. He felt slightly relieved, but he was highly, so highly offended. Here’s the thing about Baekhyun: he might be financially broke but that doesn’t mean his dignity is, too. That broken windshield was his fault which makes it his responsibility. Chanyeol making it sound like it wasn’t a big deal, especially when that windshield alone costs millions of won already, really hurts his pride.  

Besides, things like this always results to something nasty, like being blackmailed or being indebted to a certain person, who, in his case, was a gorgeous rich-as-fuck man who happens to be his friend’s Prince, who happens to be the owner of a Continental GT with a broken windshield, which happens to be his fault because the bastard is so fucking frustrating he just had to do it.

Wait, that’s right. It’s his fault in the first place. Why would he even bother paying for it when it’s actually the owner who pissed him off?!

Beside him, he hears Chanyeol snort. “Yeah, because calling you _babe_ can totally break a windshield.”

Baekhyun groaned. “Where the fuck will I get the money? That shit costs around thousands of dollars and I’m struggling to make money to even buy a roll of toilet paper to clean my shit with.”

That was, again, an exaggeration, because Baekhyun really liked to exaggerate things. Chanyeol didn't reply after that, and Baekhyun started to get a bit restless. He could just not pay at all, because Chanyeol isn't really asking him to, but his pride is really eating him up. He couldn't just end it. Not when he'd already said that he _will_ pay. No matter what. 

"I have a proposition," Chanyeol said after a while.

"Pray tell." Baekhyun snorted. 

Chanyeol cleared his throat dramatically and made himself comfortable on Baekhyun's couch. "Work for me."

Baekhyun choked on his own saliva. "E-Excuse me?"

The CEO thinks for a while. "Yep, that's the best solution," he said. "You're graduating in a few weeks, right? As soon as you get your diploma, I'll have you in my company as—"

But that's not even the problem anymore. If the man only knew that Baekhyun had graduated high school and college for about 4 times by now, he wouldn't even bother waiting. However, Baekhyun absolutely had no plans in telling him that. 

"Wait— hold up," Baekhyun intervened. "What the fuck did you just say?"

"Which part?"

"The first one."

"'Work for me'?"

"Oh." He just thought Chanyeol said 'twerk' for a moment there. Maybe he should really clean his ears later. "What do you mean by 'work'?"

"Fetch me some files, do things for me and lo, make me coffee. The usual," Chanyeol answered.

The usual.

_My ass._

He made it sound so easy, but Baekhyun'd been victimized by this before. It's not the same when you're actually doing it already. People like Chanyeol give easy orders but a lot, and they'd barely give him time to breathe.

"Why don't you ask me to clean your ass, too?" Baekhyun sassed, voice dripping with sarcasm.

Chanyeol smiled coyly. "Trust me, honey, soon enough I'll be the one cleaning your ass when we get there."

Baekhyun's face was the exact description of 'what the fuck'. _This is harrassment._ He grabbed his shoe and threw it at the man, whom he missed a good measure. "Get lost."

The CEO stood up, grinning as he preparing to leave. He had things to do back in his company anyway, and he knew that arguing with a pissed-off Baekhyun will not make him agree to his proposition. Maybe some other time, when the brunet had already forgotten about the sexual joke he pulled earlier. "All right, I'm leaving," he said. He saw Baekhyun sigh in relief. "But think about it, okay? You know how to get to me."

"Sure, sure." Baekhyun waved at him dismissively. At this point he didn't even care. He just wanted to have the man out of his sight before he screams bloody murder.

"And by the way," Chanyeol said, holding the door open, "Tell your cook to stop serving overcooked pizzas. The last one I ate was hard as steel."

Before Baekhyun could even react, Chanyeol was out, closing the door with a loud thud. 

“I hate my life,” Baekhyun cursed. “Why the hell didn't the world end in 2012.”

 

* * *

 

Baekhyun was not a Monday person, he realized.

Nor was 80-90% of the human population. For once he sympathized with the world. Well, who wouldn't have hated Mondays? 

It wasn't because Baekhyun hated school— it's the main reason why he kept coming back to this dimension even before the current storyline started and if he did hate them, he wouldn't have enrolled in the first place. Maybe it was because Jongin wasn't available due to his team dedicating the day to their soccer practice, or Jessica having him take over her shift because Mondays were "family days". Kyungsoo had always been there to talk him out of his little anti-social bubble and it was enough to keep him sane for the day. 

Truthfully though, he has no idea why he hates it. He just did.

Which is why he randomly drops his head on the table after the last subject of the day as he wallowed in his own depression. "Kyungsoo-yah, I feel sick."

"Yes," Kyungsoo answers without sparing him a glance, determined to keep on eating.

"What kind of answer is that," Baekhyun said, flatly. "I really need new friends."

"Ben, you 'feel sick' every Monday. It'll pass," Kyungsoo replies. It took long for Baekhyun to accept the nickname the owl-eyed boy had given him. As if 'Bernard' wasn't bad enough already. "Whatever imaginary sickness that you're feeling."

"I hate you. I don't wanna talk to you anymore," Baekhyun complains, at the nickname _and_ the apathy. "Maybe I'll befriend Yixing. Yes. Yixing is a better friend."

"You're overreacting. Probably why you were accepted in the Drama Club in the first place."

"I going to find Yixing," Baekhyun murmurs and walked away. Then he heard the owl-eyed male running to catch up with him.

"Wait, Ben! I have something to tell you," Kyungsoo said excitedly. The action reminded Baekhyun of the first time he had met Kyungsoo. It was a lot like this, Kyungsoo giggling and buzzing around people he didn't really like. It was hard for Baekhyun not to notice him. It was easy to find someone who'd resort to drastic measures just to fit in.

It was all unnatural. Before that Kyungsoo was timid. He was the type of boy half of the class wouldn't have even known unless they pay attention. Apparently, Baekhyun also heard rumors that Kyungsoo wasn't exactly very nice when it came to people and very rarely did people get to his good side. That's why when the boy was suddenly laughing loudly and chatted with his classmates like high school girls the way extroverts usually do was surprising, and ultimately suspicious. 

However, there was something off about the way he talked and laughed with his peers and flailed his arms awkwardly for dramatic effect. Definitely, Kyungsoo was trying to climb up the social ladder. 

Baekhyun knows. He'd been there.

"—finally got Chanyeol agree to go on a date with me!" Kyungsoo said giddily, snapping him out of his thoughts. "This is it, boob! This is my chance! Aren't you happy for me?"

Baekhyun blinked. "Hold up. Do you mean _Park Chanyeol_?"

"Yes— ah, I forgot I've never talked to you about him before. But yeah, he's currently dating me. Or at least, soon." Kyungsoo grinned. "Wait, how did you know him?"

_Well, shit._

"We're . . ." Baekhyun panicked internally. ". . . brothers."

_Way to go, Byun._

"Is that so?" said Kyungsoo. "Why do you have different surnames, then? If you don't mind me asking."

_I DO MIND!!!!_ "Um, different mothers." _What the fuck am I saying._

"Oh," came the short reply. "I'm sorry, I must've made you uncomfortable."

"It's okay," Baekhyun said, because he had nothing else to say. Kyungsoo stared at him, looking convinced, and Baekhyun thinks that all his hard work after years in the Drama Club has paid off. He wonders how gullible Kyungsoo is for believing something so out-of-the-blue.

"Should I continue . . . ?" Kyungsoo asked, hesitating. Baekhyun nodded in affirmation. "So here's how it happened . . ." Kyungsoo continued, proceeding to narrate the events that happened the previous day. 

"Let me just clear this up," Baekhyun said after he finished rambling, stopping in his tracks to face the other male. "He said, 'I'll think about it'."

Kyungsoo nodded. 

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but that actually doesn't mean anything at all."

"Nope, you're totally wrong." Kyungsoo made a popping sound. "In some mangas and fanfictions that I've read, this actually means that the leading man _does_ want to do whatever the lady wants him to do, but doesn't want to sound too submissive. In my case, I believe Chanyeol is attracted to me, therefore wanting himself to look cool in my perspective to make me like him."

Baekhyun snorted. "Amazing the stories we tell ourselves."

"Laugh all you want, but there's my date." Kyungsoo pointed at the distance. He followed that direction and saw the man who had been pestering him in his dreams to accept a job he was skeptical with. 

Chanyeol was leaning on his car (obviously expensive, but Baekhyun knew nothing about cars so he couldn't really tell) coolly with his arms crossed. A lot of students were ogling at him from all directions, and Baekhyun couldn't help but roll his eyes. The bastard was obviously showing off.

In a few seconds, Chanyeol spotted him and waved. The words "Fuck off" were already at the tip of his tongue when Kyungsoo waved back and suddenly ran towards the Prince. Chanyeol looked startled, as if he didn't see Kyungsoo at first, but it was gone too soon that Baekhyun thought he probably just imagined it.

"Hey," Chanyeol greeted him as soon as he got close. He acknowledged it with a nod. 

"Yeol!" Kyungsoo called, which earned him Chanyeol's and Baekhyun's surprised looks. "Why didn't you tell me he was your brother?"

Confused, Chanyeol looked at Baekhyun. The latter gave him a look accompanied by a bob of his head, urging him to just go with the flow. Baekhyun just hoped he wouldn't say something stupid.

Chanyeol blinked, still confused. "Uh . . . I didn't know you knew him," Chanyeol replied, still looking at his _supposed_ brother. And it was true. "Besides, I didn't think it was necessary?"

Kyungsoo hummed. "Touché," he murmured. Then his face brightened up as he took Chanyeol's hand to pull him into the car. "Come on now! We have a date, remember?"

With this, Chanyeol was even more confused, eyebrows almost uniting. Baekhyun almost laughed at the image of him with a unibrow. "Huh?"

"You said we'll go to that café down the block!" Kyungsoo said as he opened the car door. He pulled Chanyeol to the driver's seat, Chanyeol mildly fighting him. He turned to Baekhyun. "Wait, Baek—"

"Whatever," Baekhyun cut off before he could say his real name. "I'm going now," he said as he waved at the two dismissively, proceeding to walk away. 

He was not very far when he heard the car engine start. Baekhyun looked back to see Chanyeol's yellow car drive away, opposite his direction, and he stared until the car was just a dot from his sight.

 

"Yo," Henry greeted him when he stepped inside the kitchen. "How was school?"

"Like a boss," said Baekhyun as he tied his apron around his body. 

Henry grinned. "So it was cool, huh?" he teased as he sliced a pizza into 8 pieces. 

"No. It was like a boss. Boring, repetitive, and gives a lot of orders."

His co-worker laughed as if it was the funniest joke he'd ever heard of. Baekhyun's lips quirk. It was nice to make someone laugh every now and then. 

His thoughts went back to Chanyeol. Chanyeol and his fucking proposal. To be frank, it wasn't really that bad. It was actually a pleasant opportunity for Baekhyun. That job can let him buy the laptop he'd been dreaming of since forever (and also let him get rid of the stupid toilet he installed in the bathroom for different reasons. It was getting annoying. His bathroom wasn't exactly spacious).

It was just that he didn't want to have any further connections with Chanyeol than he already has. 

It was already too much, way past the limit Baekhyun had set. Working under the man meant seeing him more often than desired, and Baekhyun didn't want that. His original plan was to avoid him as much as possible but the circumstances are already sabotaging it. If this continues . . . his ending will not be very bright.

And Kyungsoo. He wondered if that boy actually thought that Chanyeol was interested in him. Chanyeol and Kyungsoo. On a date. What could they be possibly doing right now?

"Ah," Baekhyun sighs to himself as he rolled a pizza dough into a thin sheet. "I really hate Mondays."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wc: 4K
> 
> ahhh i feel like i have just used my entire vocabulary in this chapter lol
> 
> this story is getting a little boring. it lacks sexual tension, no?
> 
> i actually updated this story yesterday on aff but i forgot to post it here lol


	5. Moonlight Markets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Apparently, being 'Bernard' comes with a lot of problems. Most come in the form of money and Park Chanyeol.

**“So in this movie, had** Shang already fallen in love with Mulan before he found out that Ping isn’t actually a guy?” Kyungsoo asked right after the screen started rolling the credits. “I’m confused, because Shang spent very little time with Mulan after he found out about her secret, so there must have been the feeling of being in love with her already for him to go to her home and want to be with her for eternity, right?”

Baekhyun pops a popcorn in his mouth and chews before answering. “It feels like he did and he was just suppressing it and when he found out he was a girl he was so relieved.”

“I was sort of getting into that vibe, too,” Kyungsoo agreed, slinging his legs up the side of the couch and laid his back down. “Like he kept wishing to himself, ‘if only he didn’t have balls.’”

Jongin, who was laying on the floor, laughed. “He was like, ‘am I gay?’ And then Mulan was like, ‘Nah fam you just have good taste’ and he was like ‘thank Buddha’.”

“You have a way with words, Jace,” said Baekhyun, shaking his head.

“So I’ve been told,” Jongin said. “It makes me suave.”

“Not as much as Chanyeol, though,” Kyungsoo chirped, sighing dreamily.

Baekhyun snorted. “I think Jace’s lines would top the Guinness of the Most Used Pick-ups, but that giant’s just a whole new level of cringe.”

He ignores Jongin’s stare at him and continues to munch on his salted popcorn. Then, he hears Jongin say, rather flatly, “I thought we were friends.”

“Oh, you guys.” Kyungsoo sits up and puts his feet on the floor. “You’re just jealous that I have a date while you go cry on your pillow each night for not having a good lay in ages.”

Every now and then he would bring up Chanyeol, reminding Baekhyun that they’d had a date the previous week. Not that Baekhyun was jealous, but it was becoming annoying. He’d dated a hot warlock before, but he had never flaunted his relationship status to his friends’ faces. Baekhyun had also dated at least three vampires in his lifetime before Twilight happened, but he didn’t go around telling teenage girls he had a bloodsucker for a boyfriend.

“Speaking of dates,” Baekhyun said, shooting Jongin a look. “You have a lot to explain.”

Jongin groaned. He definitely saw it coming. “I . . . had errands to do that night.”

“Well, you could’ve _called_ ,” Baekhyun retorted. He wasn’t really angry—he had let it pass a long time ago—but he needed at least an acceptable reason as to why the man hadn’t shown up at their date.

Kyungsoo’s ears perked. “Wait, what? What did I miss?”

“My—my phone broke,” Jongin mumbled in defense, playing with his fingers. He looked utterly vulnerable.

 _You could’ve used Kyungsoo’s phone. Jongin, what happened?_ With a sigh, Baekhyun decided to accept the excuse. Whatever it was, Jongin will tell him that sometime in the future.

 _“You ditched him?”_ Kyungsoo asked, incredulous. “Boy, you’ve dreaming of this—“

In a split-second Jongin was up and strangling the owl-eyed boy with his leg. The latter punched his leg weakly and vainly as he struggled to let himself breathe. “Jace, you—” A choking noise. “Let go of me!”

Surprisingly, Jongin did. Both of them were panting, and Baekhyun openly wondered as to why they were acting like that. Jongin hit Kyungsoo with a pillow for the last attack.

“Traitor,” Baekhyun heard Jongin mumble.

Kyungsoo coughed one last time before he spat at Jongin’s face. “Well, I ain’t the nerd ditchin’ dates here.”

“You guys fight like children,” Baekhyun commented, massaging his temple.

“Coming from _you_?” the two chorused.

Baekhyun glared. “Shut up or I’ll hit you with my granny stick.”

“What’s a granny stick?” Jongin asked. He narrowly dodged the popcorn bowl that Baekhyun threw at him. It was a good thing they never kept glass plates in their house.

“It’s a billiards slang, you uncultured swine.”

“But you don’t even play billiards.” Kyungsoo grabbed the remote and turned the television off. Jongin stared at Baekhyun knowingly.

 _I did_ , Baekhyun thought. _When I was in Canada and not struggling to save my ass. Good times._

Jongin stood up. “I just remembered I have something to do,” he said, and Kyungsoo’s eyebrows rose.

“Isn’t it too late in the night to be practicing?”

“I’m not going to practice.” Jongin grabbed his coat on the armrest and took a swig of beer. He and Kyungsoo liked drinking alcohol on weekends. On the contrary, Baekhyun _loathed_ alcohol. He wasn’t much of a drinker—he’d had lots of bad moments because of the beverage. “B, didn’t you say you were going somewhere, too?”

Baekhyun stood up abruptly. “Right. Thanks.” He blew Kyungsoo a kiss and followed Jongin to the door. “See you, Kyung.”

“Yeah, whatever. Don’t get yourself raped,” Kyungsoo muttered before dozing off on the couch. Probably because of the alcohol. Baekhyun looked at Jongin, and the latter rolled his eyes. _I’ll take care of that later._

And they left.

 

“Who’s Baekhyun?”

Chanyeol glanced at the Prince before checking on his work again. “The pizza delivery boy.”

Sehun clicked his tongue before sipping on his cup of vanilla latte. He’d been given a great deal of free time today for taking care of Chanyeol’s load for the past few days. Now that he’d come back, it was only right to do his work again himself. Sehun wasn’t the CEO for a reason (the reason being he wanted to earn money with less work and lesser responsibilities).

“I thought he was your lover,” he continued. “I was so shocked that I accidentally spilled my Domaine Leroy Musigny Grand Cru on my Audi RS7.”

“Sky, stop being so fucking bothersome for a second. You don’t even drink wine.”

“I do! Real adults drink wine, you know.” Sehun rolled his eyes indignantly.

Chanyeol massaged his temple, trying to calm his headache. “You can’t even take black coffee.”

“That’s a personal taste. You are so annoying.”

 _Now_ I’m _annoying._ Chanyeol groaned and decided not to answer.

The younger, despite being—practically—a child, had been the Prince’s best friend for a long time. They had met even before attending the School of Chivalry, Sehun being close to his parents and all. They’ve become inseparable. It was a good thing they were put into the same fairytale—although Sehun had always wanted his own.

“You can call me by my real name now, though.” Sehun put his cup down on the table and started walking towards one of the bookshelves. “No one’s listening.”

“You’ll never know.” Chanyeol landed his finger on _enter_ and saved the project. He then leaned back to admire the blank ceiling, thinking of books, of his parents, of Baekhyun.

Grabbing a book labeled _Catch-22_ , Sehun pursed his lips. “They gave you a name. Why didn’t you use it?”

“I don’t want a new identity,” Chanyeol answered. “Especially if I’m going to be called ‘Charles Dominic McHugh.”

“McHugh is a really good surname though. Like McKay. McLaren. McNuggets. McBurger. McDonald’s.”

Chanyeol threw him a crumpled paper. “Not funny.”

Laughing, Sehun closed the book and put it back on the shelf. He hummed into the beat of Cotton Eye Joe just to piss the other off until he remembered something. Sehun turned to Chanyeol, who was wearing sound blocking headphones. “Chanyeol.”

He received no answer.

“So I’ll just…” Sehun reached for Chanyeol’s collection of hats. “ _Accidentally_ pour my vanilla latte on these, I guess.”

Chanyeol, sensing that some bad omen was around, turned to face the younger who was already holding a cup and ready to pour its contents on his— “HATS!”

He moved too fast. In a split-second, he was already in front on Sehun. Chanyeol held the younger Prince’s wrist to prevent him from damaging his collection. The latter stared at him, astonished. “Wow, you’ve gotten… I’d say, more quick. How to be you?”

 _Quicker._ Chanyeol rolled his eyes. This kid really needs to work on his vocabulary. “What is it?”

“Well, it’s Market Night.” Sehun quirked his lips. “Let’s go? I want to see some critters.”

“I can’t,” Chanyeol said, glancing worriedly at his desk.

Sehun grinned. “Since when did you worry about responsibilities?”

There was silence.

“We’re taking the train.”

“I hate you.”

 

The sky above the ocean was streaked with the warm colors of sunset. Baekhyun slowed from a run to a jog, panting, his heart pounding in his chest.

Even as a kid, Baekhyun had always loved Moonlight Markets. It was those nights when he’d sneak out of slave duties under Lady Yeri’s nose and into certain places he’d known to hold Moonlight Markets. When he was still in the palace, the biggest Market was located at the abandoned town of Illua, and he had missed those times when he’d walk the streets of Sapphire and narrow alleys, occasionally passing by drunk warlocks and fey. He was never afraid of littering around dangerous places. No one in their right minds would try to touch a dirty villain slave, and even if someone did, Baekhyun would openly embrace anything that would end him of his misery, even death.

Illua’s Moonlight Market was open to all races, so Baekhyun got to mingle with a lot of different people. But not everybody was fairly nice to him, as to be expected. However, there was one person who, Baekhyun can say, did not hate him as much as the others. And perhaps that was the only thing that kept him going.

Markets in the Downworld were slightly different. Rarely did he see magical creatures behind the stalls, staring at him with loathe. Instead they were replaced by humans with what his mother called ‘The Talent’. Humans with this ability are called Humdrums, which, in Baekhyun’s world, were described as creatures that ranked higher than humans and villains but lower than witches. Humdrums ran the Downworld Moonlight Markets, dealing with on-the-tale Villains, Princes, and Princesses. They were much more tolerable than the dealers from his world.

“Just a few more steps,” Baekhyun murmured. Jongin had left after accompanying him to the beach. Turns out the male really did have something important to do.

It was not long until Baekhyun saw the first row of stalls, artificial lights blinding him temporarily. The place was jam-packed with rushing crowds and hustle and bustle from left and right. Baekhyun crossed the line that separated the Market from the sight of the non-humdrums, and people still paid him little attention. He looked around, occasionally stopping whenever he saw something interesting, although as soon as he remembered that he was broke he immediately dropped everything.

“Baekhyun?”

Don’t get him wrong— the voice was sweet, almost lulling him, but it was so sudden that he stepped back and accidentally hit a vial. He attempted to catch it too late.

“Fuck,” Baekhyun said under his breath when he heard the glass break. “Why do I always get into situations like this? As if I don’t have enough bills to pay.”

“Baekhyun!” he heard someone call him again. Then he felt a hand on his shoulder. “Are you okay?”

“Totally,” Baekhyun sarcastically answered. He sniffed, the aromatic scent of whatever was in the vial lingering in the air. He inhaled a lungful of the heavenly scent until the girl poked his face.

“Don’t smell it.”

“What—”

“Ho! Whot happ’n ta mah preycious merchandoise!” the dealer behind them exclaimed with a weird accent. The dealer then pushed them away before kneeling down to see the damage. After seeing that it was irreparable, he angrily faced Baekhyun. “Ya folks need ta pay!”

“I’d do that,” Baekhyun said, reaching to his pockets. “Except I don’t have money.”

“Eyh?! Tha’ was mah most preycious potion, ya focken pieze’a—”

“Here,” the girl thrusted money to the dealer’s hands. “Keep the change.” She held Baekhyun’s hand and dragged him away.

Baekhyun felt dizzy and ridiculous. His throat started to feel dry, his stomach having a tickling sensation at the slightest touch. He involuntarily let out an unmanly giggle. When he tried suppressing it and failed, he covered his mouth with his free hand.

The girl stopped walking when they reached a certain stall. She led him to a chair, put her hand on his head, and asked, “Are you okay? I don’t think so.”

“Ya think?”

“What do you feel?” the girl asked worriedly, choosing to ignore Baekhyun’s sarcastic remarks.

“Dizzy,” Baekhyun squeaked.

The girl sighed before pulling her hand back. “Baby-talk potion. Who’d’ve thought Mr. Stones would keep something like that.”

“Like whal?” Baekhyun had a hard time pronouncing the letter ‘t’.

“It’ll come to work in a few seconds, but in about five minutes it’ll come off,” the girl assured him. She seemed worried, though Baekhyun didn’t understand why she would be. There was an edge in her voice that made her sound as if she was afraid of what Baekhyun was about to do. ”Don’t speak unless you want to embarrass yourself.”

Okay. Don’t speak. That was easy, except there were two guys approaching them. They looked Hispanic, especially the taller one. Baekhyun felt the need to remark on their horrible sense of fashion. Even he, who had lived in poverty all his life, could say that.

He opened his mouth to say something witty, like the words ‘ _where’d you get that outfit from, Dior’s Funeral Range?_ ’, but what came out of his mouth was, “Naruto Shippuden!”

The girl looked at him funny. “Baekhyun, what are you trying to say?”

“Kamehameha!” Baekhyun exclaimed. The girl was about to say something when the guys finally came to them, looking stern.

“Yo, Amy,” the taller of the two said, and Baekhyun assumed that they were talking to the girl beside him. They paid him no attention and focused solely on the girl. Baekhyun wasn’t sure if he was supposed to feel offended. “Still got one of those critters I asked you before?”

‘Amy’ stepped back and kept as defensive stance, as if she was protecting something behind her. “I told you, they’re not for sale.”

Baekhyun felt something soft move under his feet. He looked down and saw a feather that seemed to shine, although he’s not sure if it’s because of the lights of the Market or not. The guys didn’t seem to notice it, though he was sure the girl did, because her eye twitched.

“C’mon, Ber,” the other guy coaxed, stepping forward. “Five rupees?”

“Takes more than that.”

“A skunk potion?”

“Who the fuck wants a skunk potion?”

“An Ice-blue Crystal?”

He saw the girl hesitate, gritting her jaw. “They’re not for sale,” she repeated, emphasizing every word.

At this point, Baekhyun was lost. He wondered what was so special about those ‘critters’ they were talking about for the guys to be so desperate to have them and ‘Amy’ to keep them away. Surely those were living creatures based on the way they bantered. Surely they were not just normal pets either. That was expected. Everything in the Moonlight Market is bizarre even to its inhabitants.

“You sure you don’t want it?” the guy taunted, smirking, knowing that he’s got the girl on a leash.

She gulped and croaked “No.” Then she cleared her throat. “I’m sure whatever you have isn’t the real thing anyway.”

“You want proof?” The shorter guy smirked, reaching into his pockets. He then held out a blue diamond-like thing that seeming to glow from the inside. It looked so beautiful that Baekhyun understood why the girl was hesitating to accept the offer. He wanted to touch it badly—

“ _Mi amo_ llama ding dong,” Baekhyun babbled, earning the attention of the two guys.

The duo blinked at him. “E-Excuse me?”

“ _Hasta la vista_ , bebe.” Baekhyun smiled at them sweetly, as if he didn’t say anything funny.

The guys looked amused. “You do realize that we speak Spanish, right?”

“ _Buenos dias dama de noche_!” Baekhyun continued. He doesn’t understand whatever his mouth was producing but it must’ve been nice, since he saw the guys laugh quietly.

“Baekhyun, stop it,” the girl warned, feeling genuinely embarrassed for the boy. Baekhyun kindly ignored this.

“She she she she sheuwarawarahu,” Baekhyun sang. _Where the hell did that come from?_

“I like him,” the taller guy said after much laughing.

“What the hell is this guy even saying?” the shorter man said incredulously, giving Baekhyun a weird look. He did not seem to find Baekhyun nice. Well, yeah? Baekhyun doesn’t like him either.

“Scubibaboo,” Baekhyun burbled. He meant to say “scumbag”, but things do not ever turn out how he wanted them to be.

“He’s crazy,” the shorter guy remarked. “Am I the only one sane enough to see that?”

“BAHAHA!” Baekhyun laughed with a squeak. Somehow that statement sounded funny to him, though he himself isn’t sure why. He feels light and wonderful. He needs more of that Baby-talk potion the girl was talking about.

The girl nudged him in the stomach and gave him a look. “Don’t mind him,” she said, seemingly more composed than she was minutes ago. “Anyway, as you can see, I’m busy. And I’m not in the mood to entertain any of you right now.”

The guys stared at her for a moment. “Alright,” they said in a tone that made Baekhyun sure that they weren’t going to leave her alone soon. “We’re leaving.”

As soon as they did, Baekhyun heard the girl sigh in relief. Those two must have been pestering her about the critters for quite a while now for her to behave like that.

Critters were animal-like creatures that were used to help Villains and the protagonists alike in fairytales. They are a lot more intelligent than ordinary pets and could understand its master the most. Each critter reflects its master’s desires and personality. However, when the books are printed, they are not given much credit as they are translated by The Pen into its closest Downworld counterpart, like how Cinderella’s Nifts were depicted as rats in her tale.

Unfortunately, they were not for everyone. Rarely was it that Prince and Princesses find suitable critters for themselves, mainly because they are not capable of handling them. Critters were for the purest of the pure, and one should be either a pure Villain or a pure Hero.

"Baekhyun," the girl called. "Surely you remember me, right?"

Baekhyun stared at her for a long time, and gasped.

" _Amber_?" Baekhyun said, surprised. "What are you doing here?"

Amber shrugged. "Things."

The Villain followed her around. "I haven't seen you for a long time."

"Well," Amber said. "That's what the Schools do, right?"

Baekhyun observed his surroundings. The stall to the right of Amber’s was occupied by a buff man who sold… nothing. Baekhyun saw nothing that could’ve been the man’s reason for setting a stall labeled ADAM ADDAM’S in the Market. What he saw, though, was that the man was engaged in a serious conversation with a girl shorter than him. The girl was wearing a red silk dress, ripped from the right thigh to bottom to show her flawless legs, hair tied in an elegant bun as if she just came from a formal party.

After they stopped talking, the girl turned to Baekhyun and winked.

“Hey, Romeo,” Amber called out, elbowing him in the ribs. She handed him a bottle of cranberry extract. “Didn’t bring you here to flirt. Help me feed these babies.”

Baekhyun judged the bottle. “Aren’t you supposed to feed them ambrosia?”

“Those things are hard to get, you know,” Amber answered. “Cranberries taste the same, anyway.”

Baekhyun looked back, but the girl was gone. With a sigh, he focused on what his companion was saying, as what polite people do.

Amber walked over to the first cage and squeezed a portion of the liquid on to the critter’s plate. The cage, Baekhyun noticed, was too small for the critter and too old to keep it in once the critter reaches its full aptitude.

“Where do you put them when they’re all grown?”

Amber smiled sideways and tilted her head at him mischievously. “It’d be a long time before that happens, but they usually leave. I only use one cage per critter for their whole life anyway, and by the time they’re adults, they would tear the cage like a piece of paper and fly away.”

“Doesn’t it bother you?” Baekhyun asked as he let a Jigglebum lick the liquid from the bottle’s nose. “Taking care of them for a long time then having them leave just like that?”

“Not really.” She shrugged, smiling jokily. “They come back with gifts sometimes.”

For the first time that week, Baekhyun let out a hearty laugh. “I wish my job was like that, too.”

Stopping her tracks, Amber beamed at Baekhyun, ignoring the wails of a hungry Nift beside her. “Speaking of, are you in a fairy tale right now?” she said. “I could help.”

Baekhyun waved a hand facetiously. “Nah. The Pen wouldn’t like a witch suddenly popping into the tale, anyway.”

“It would probably make up a story, like I was your ex-girlfriend or something.”

“Debatable,” Baekhyun said, rolling his eyes. “The Pen’s most likely writing me as a female Villain right now.”

“Touché.” Amber laughed at his misery. “Well, if you need something, just give me call, all right?”

“Why not? After all . . .” Baekhyun said impishly. “You did work for me once.”

 

They ended their conversation some time before dawn, with the market having to disappear when sunlight hits the earth. Baekhyun wondered how beautiful the beach will look during sunrise.

“Hey, pretty boy.”

Baekhyun spun to see two guys smiling at him.

“You,” Baekhyun said. “The scumbags who were asking for damn critters earlier.”

The taller one sighed. “I liked you better when you were baby-talking.”

“Yeah?” Baekhyun still had no idea what he was saying to them, even without the baby-talk potion, but he had his male pride. “Well, thanks.”

_Stupid potion._

“We were just wondering if you could ask your friend to sell the critters to us?” the shorter guy asked. “Name’s Hong Kong, by the way.”

Amused, Baekhyun turned to the taller one. “And I’m assuming that you’re King Kong?”

“Donkey Kong,” he corrected.

Baekhyun rolled his eyes. “Wrong choice of friends. Words of advice: don’t ever trust them in giving you a believable fake name again, all right?”

The two looked abashed.

“Anyways,” Baekhyun continued. “The answer’s no.”

“Is it because of our name?”

Baekhyun stared at them, judging really hard. “No, but you really need to remember my advice.”

Hong Kong scowled, red-hot. “Then why not?”

“Because she’s my friend—like, real friend, and I really treasure her to the point where I won’t give her stupid names if she wants to live in Mexico with a new identity.”

“So, that means you’re very, very friends,” Donkey Kong remarked.

Baekhyun nodded. “Yes. Very friends.”

“Which means we can kidnap you to use you against her to get the critters,” they said, and Baekhyun’s eyes widened.

_“What?”_

“Good idea, Alejandro!”

They high-fived. Then turned to Baekhyun—who was already about 10 meters away from them, running. They glanced at each other and sprinted after their victim.

All those years training Hapkido were worth it. Baekhyun decided to run with just enough speed to keep them far away from him and avoid draining his energy at the same time. He moved swiftly, making sharp turns to lose the two, but they were always behind him.

Panting, Baekhyun entered a train station. He checked his pockets for his card and found it empty. Sucks to be Bernard Silverspoon.

It was too late in the night and too early in the morning so there were only a few people around, not enough to let Baekhyun hide by blending in. He tried to go back, but the bastards are already coming down the stairs. Behind him, the train had arrived and the few people in the station are already getting inside. He had no choice but to face them dead-on.

“I hope these two are as stupid as they look,” Baekhyun murmured.

As soon as they got down, Hong Kong drew a knife and Donkey Kong a rope. _They really are planning to kidnap me_. Baekhyun did his fighting stance, getting ready for whatever attack they choose to make, especially Hong Kong.

“My name is Alejandro, and my companion is Matias, friend,” the shorter one informed him.

“And I should care because?”

Alejandro looked bewildered. “Well, we learned first aid, and teacher says that if you tell the victim your name, they will trust you and calm down.”

_Thank God they’re stupid._

“Well, you already said you’re kidnapping me. This clearly isn’t first aid,” said Baekhyun. “And the name’s Bernard to you.”

Baekhyun knows he tried to be cool and failed. Well, at least he tried.

Alejandro sprang forward. It came down like a cage as soon as he took the first step: a wave of ice that seemed to slow time. Baekhyun saw Alejandro dash toward him, lashing out with his hand armed with a knife. He bent his knees when Alejandro swung at him and spun clockwise, stretching his right leg as he made the kick. Alejandro fell on his back and dropped his knife. Baekhyun kicked it away before he had the chance to grab it.

Suddenly there was a rope around his neck, making him see stars. He raised his arm and elbowed Matias in the ribs, making the man recoil and lose grip on the rope. Baekhyun grabbed the rope instead, wrapped it around Matias’s wrist and pulled. He swung his free hand at Matias’s face, and then the elbow, making the man drop to the ground face flat. Baekhyun twisted Matias’s hand and pinned it to the man’s own back, sending the man jolts of pain around the elbow and shoulder areas and the fear that he might lose an arm.

“Let him go if you want to live,” he heard Alejandro say, feeling the edge of a knife on his neck. He didn’t realize the man had been carrying spare ones.

Baekhyun slowly stood up, aware that Alejandro was still aiming the knife at his neck as he did so. He glanced at Matias—it didn’t look like the guy was going to get up soon. Looking at Alejandro’s expression, Baekhyun saw the chance. And took it.

He kicked the knife off of the man’s hand and bent to make a low kick, driving Alejandro off-balance. He had used this move so many times and worked in all of them. The man fell backwards head first, knocking him out.

Baekhyun stepped backward, panting. His heart was beating in his ears. He waited for one of the two to get up, but even Matias—who was conscious—seemed to give up.

“You know,” he heard a familiar voice behind him. “I was going to save you, but I was both surprised and grateful that you can actually knock them out yourself.”

He faced Chanyeol with a glare. “What, you thought I’d be your fucking damsel in distress?”

“Well, yeah,” came the honest answer.

Baekhyun prevented himself from punching the man unconscious. “I feel honored to be proving you wrong.”

The Prince laughed and walked towards him. Baekhyun felt his heart beat louder and louder as Chanyeol neared him. _Shit._

“Come on, I’ll take you home,” Chanyeol said as he dragged him towards the train.

Despite Baekhyun’s curses of objection, Chanyeol held his hand tightly. “Look, Skyler just left with the previous train because I was worried about you, so just come with me at least. I’m not going to do anything. I’m just making sure you get home safe.”

Baekhyun closed his mouth and chose not to ask who Skyler was. He was tired anyway.

 

“Should we take a cab?”

“No.”

“So we’ll walk to your apartment?”

“No, _I’ll_ walk to my apartment. You’re _leaving_.”

“Baekhyun.”

“…Fine. But if you get tired, I am _not_ taking you in.”

“Deal.”

They kept walking, neither of them noticing their linked hands. There was a comfortable silence in between them, the both of them just admiring the sunrise, until Chanyeol spoke.

“So, your English name is Bernard?” the tall CEO asked.

“Yes. Bernard,” Baekhyun said cynically. “Yeah, I know. Go on. Laugh. BerNerd, Bertard, Barnyard, whatever. I’ve heard all those, don’t even bother.”

Baekhyun walked faster, and Chanyeol smiled.

“I wasn’t going to say anything.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> would you guys like an interlude next or is it too early? lol
> 
> i feel like this chapter shoulda been named "stupid names" tho


	6. His Knight in Shining Armor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for taking five months just to finish this REALLY short chapter. \\(T-T)/  
> I admit I was busy from December to March because of our thesis (that we shouldn't be doing yet bc we're just mere fifteen year olds) but I had a lot of time this past month. I just couldn't get rid of my author's block and no matter how hard I tried to write I always find myself deleting it becuase it just so STUPID and I wanted to give you guys something worth reading at least to make up for the five months that passed but I think I still failed please don't kill me  
> I FAIL AT LITERALLY EVERYTHING I'M SORRY /hides from y'all angry readers/
> 
> p.s. I'll be busy again since school is starting (ALREADY) and I'm gonna have a completely OC-fic to write. it's all going to be about young detectives and shit and I'm trying to finish it before I turn 17 (which is next year). pls pray 4 mah soul

The heavy dark sky grumbled. Thick blackened clouds were dragged down by the rain which it held in its delicate frame. The streets were near empty, soundless pit-pats disrupted by the gregarious boom of thunder. The cold icy rain descended upon the asphalt, droplets splashing, wetting his worn-out shoes.

Baekhyun stepped into the rain. In only a few seconds his clothes were soaked and his skin wet. Instead of running for cover, he walked leisurely, as if the rain had been nothing to him at all. A man holding an umbrella ran past him, practically shoving Baekhyun’s shoulder out of his way as he went for cover from the downpour. Baekhyun stared at the man’s back for a few seconds before walking off.

It had been a few days since Chanyeol walked him home, and the lanky CEO had never left him alone after that. (Not that he ever did, even before.) Chanyeol rode and fetched him from school on weekdays and walked him to work on weekends. The man had been adamant on staying with him, saying that it was uncertain whether or not the Spanish cretins—as he dubbed it—would come back for him, ignoring the fact that Baekhyun was fully capable of taking care of himself. It pissed Baekhyun to no end, but filing a restraining order against an incredibly rich CEO seemed futile.

Getting an off-day after taking over Jessica’s shift the previous week, he had woken up thinking about going to his favorite place—Studio Nam. It was where he had been practicing his artistic skills for the past few years, stopping only when he had no more money to pay for the canvases. Baekhyun figured that maybe he could watch some of Joohyuk’s students paint for a few minutes—just to feel motivated in life, which was getting more and more discouraging these days.

Fortunately, Baekhyun didn’t see Chanyeol today. Every time he was around, Baekhyun couldn’t seem to think straight. It was good news to finally have the man off his back.

After what seemed like a jiffy, Baekhyun could finally see the figure of the small studio, albeit a little doubtful. It had been a while since he last went there. He could be anywhere, with the world in blurs and the hammering quite disorienting. Baekhyun figures it wasn’t just rain—it was a downpour, and walking through such couldn’t get any wetter.

The drops started to strike Baekhyun like bullets from above, so he ran towards the studio before it got any heavier than it already was. He sought cover from the house’s narrow roofs and urgently knocked on the door.

A handsome young man answered the call, standing about five inches taller than Baekhyun, seemingly taken aback. “Baekhyun?” he said, and scanned the said man’s appearance.

“Hi.”

“What were you doing in the rain? Oh god, you’re dripping wet!” The man stopped himself and sighed. “Come inside.”

Baekhyun felt the contrast of the much warmer air to the piercing cold outside as he stepped in. The man led him to the workstation, neither of them caring about the water trail Baekhyun left on the wooden floor. He had Baekhyun sit on a stool and said, “Wait here. I’ll get you some clothes.”

“This is exactly why I let myself get wet. I thought, ‘Well, Nam Joohyuk loves me too much—it’ll be a hundred percent certain he’ll lend me his Supreme hoodie.’”

“You’re so demanding,” Joohyuk replied before sauntering off. Baekhyun caught his tone and laughed.

Joohyuk comes back a few minutes later with the grey hoodie and some pants. Upon receiving the clothes, Baekhyun started to take off his own damp ones, which the former took as the cue to turn around. Baekhyun smiled. “What’s this? Can’t take a little strip tease?”

“I just don’t think I’ll like what I’m going to see,” Joohyuk answered with an impish grin.

Baekhyun threw his wet clothes at the man. “Rude.”

“Between the two of us, it would be you, actually.” Joohyuk crossed his arms and threw Baekhyun a look. “Disappearing for two years and then suddenly appear at my doorstep soaking wet? Unbelievable.”

Two years? Had it really been two years? Baekhyun couldn’t remember. Putting his hand inside the hoodie’s sleeves, he looked at the man sheepishly. “Sorry.”

“Where’d you hidden yourself in, you little rat?” Joohyuk asked, poking his nose.

Baekhyun waved his hand as if to counter the question. “I wasn’t hiding. I got broke. End of story.”

“And thought it was a good idea not to contact me for a few years?” Joohyuk was hugging him now, and Baekhyun leaned towards him, rubbing circles on his back. “I missed you, idiot.”

Rolling his eyes, Baekhyun slapped the artist’s back lightly. “That’s so cliché.” He planted a kiss on Joohyuk’s ear, as if saying he held the same sentiment, and broke the hug. “How are you doing?”

“Fine.”

“I’m leaving. You’re boring now that you’re married.”

“Still a lot more fun than you are,” Joohyuk replied. He brushed Baekhyun’s soft locks as the latter scowled. “Where do you live now? You should’ve told me you were broke.”

“And have Sungkyung try to decapitate me all the time? I have enough problems on my own, thank you very much.”

Joohyuk grinned. “I feel like I’m having an affair.”

“Amen.” Baekhyun then turned to the table and grabbed a brush, looking at the tools longingly. The room was decorated with paintings, each signed by different artists, every single one telling a different story. Baekhyun walked towards one and held the wood, taking in the beauty of each detail.

Baekhyun said, “It’s been a while.”

“It’s been _two years_ and a while,” the other male corrected, handing him a brush, which he accepted gratefully.

“Aren’t you supposed to have classes today?”

Joohyuk shook his head. “I told them I’m having a week-long vacation. I’m getting tired of trying to understand their paintings.”

Baekhyun laughed. “Seems like a serious problem.”

“Right,” Joohyuk said, snorting. “What about you? Care to share your problem?”

“Aside from money? Well, there’s this man—“

“Hot?”

Baekhyun looked at him, confused. “What?”

“Is he too hot for ya?” Joohyuk wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Baekhyun slapped him. “No! Geez.”

“Then _what_?”

“He’s an arrogant, rich CEO who is very persistent and thinks he own the place—“

“Reminds me of a person—“

“—His name is—“

“—named—“

“Park Chanyeol,” they said in unison.

They gape at each other in shock.

Baekhyun stares at Joohyuk with wide eyes. “You know him?”

“Chanyeol? Park Chanyeol?” Joohyuk repeated. “Prominent ears? Abnormally tall? Stupidly corny?”

“Yes, yes, I believe we’re talking about the same person,” Baekhyun confirmed. “Stupidly corny— _perfect_ description.”

“What’s the matter with him?”

Baekhyun huffs. “He keeps on bugging me and calling me ‘Princess’.”

Rolling his eyes, Joohyuk watched as Baekhyun mixed paint on the palette and then proceeding to dip it into one of the older artworks. “I knew it. He had that look in his eyes that screams ‘Prince’,” he said.

Baekhyun dryly looked at him. “Really?” he said. “It sounded like ‘Asshole’ to me.”

“Really, Baek,” Joohyuk started, but then sighed. “Aren’t you gonna ask how I know him?”

Baekhyun stared at him for a moment. “Because you’re friendly?”

“Because he comes here all the time,” Joohyuk said, answering his own question. He’d gotten tired of Baekhyun’s sarcastic remarks. “ _Now_ is the moment where you ask me why.”

“Not interested,” Baekhyun said, barely looking at him, although feeling quite the opposite. Feeling like dropping the topic, he smiled at Joohyuk. “Lend me a canvas, will you?”

 

A few more Chanyeol-less days and Baekhyun is convinced that the Prince had finally left him alone now. So when he showed up for work one day, he felt surprisingly giddy.

“Why are you so high today?” Jessica asked him. “It’s suspicious. You’re suspicious.”

Baekhyun rolled his eyes at his co-worker’s choice of words. “Am I not allowed to?”

Jessica opened her mouth to retort, but then the phone rang, cutting their conversation short. She then leaves after a few moments to make the delivery, leaving Baekhyun to handle the parlor by himself. The sun was setting anyway, so they’ll be closing soon.

And just when he thought he was finally free from evil spirits . . .

“Good morning, Princess.”

Baekhyun wore his sweetest smile. “Good morning, sir. Welcome to—“ Baekhyun stopped midway.

_Princess_? Only one person calls him that. Baekhyun dreaded looking up.

He wished he didn’t.

“Chanyeol,” he said resignedly.

“That’s my name.”

“What are you doing here?” Baekhyun practically hissed the question.

Chanyeol walked over to the counter and smiled at the shorter male. “What else do you do at pizza parlors?”

Annoyed, Baekhyun slammed the tray on the table. “What is your order, _sir_?”

Biting his lower lip, the Prince stared him down. “Can’t you be nice to me even for a second? A day, perhaps?” Chanyeol finally suggested. “Let’s be civil, yeah?”

“The day I’m civil to you is the day Armageddon comes,” answered Baekhyun.

_And that’s a no._ Chanyeol groaned. “Hawaiian.”

Baekhyun raised his eyebrows. “This is why I don’t like you.”

“What? You’re one of those pineapple-on-pizza haters?”

“Don’t give me that look. They’re a disgrace in the name of pizza.”

Chanyeol snorted. “Oh come on, Baekhyun. They’re delicious.”

“They’re not. Especially on my pizza.” Baekhyun handed him the receipt. “Now get out of my sight.”

“Nah. I think I’ll stay here.” Chanyeol leaned on the counter and leveled his face to the brunet’s. Somehow, the bastard thought it was a good idea to corner him today. “Now tell me, has those Spanish cretins been bothering you while I was gone?”

“No, and why do you even care anyway?” Baekhyun said, feeling more annoyed. He pushed Chanyeol’s face away from his and puffed. “You’re not my boyfriend.”

“Why not? I’ll be your Knight in Shining Armor,” offered the Prince.

Baekhyun scoffed. “A knight in shining armor is a knight who never had his metal tested.”

“A knight in shining armor is the knight who cares about his armor,” Chanyeol said, amused. “It’s not that hard to sharpen a pencil.”

Baekhyun glared, clearly at a loss for words. Running out of analogies, the villain decided to take things on a personal level. “A knight in shining armor is the knight who actually cares about his Princess and has no time to be shitheading a Villain who might just be plotting his death as they speak.”

If Chanyeol noticed his blow about his low profile as a Villain, he didn’t show it. On the contrary, he smiled, looking at Baekhyun knowingly, as if the brunet had charmed him again just as he always did. Even before Chanyeol opened his mouth to speak, Baekhyun felt his heart race just by staring at the Prince’s smiling face.

And nothing could have prepared Baekhyun for what the Prince had said next.

“The knight doesn’t have to be the prince,” Chanyeol said, “and no one said the villain can’t have a knight of his own, either.”

 

_What is he saying. I don’t understand. Why does he keep on—Why is my heart beating fast like this?!_

_What the fuck is happening—_

“Baekhyun?”

The said male snapped out of his reverie and turned to the source of the voice. “Yes, Jessica?”

“You can go home now.” _Calm down, Byun._ “The last customer left an hour ago and I don’t think there’ll be any more deliveries for today.”

_I swear to all fucking Norse gods, Byun Baekhyun, calm the fuck down._ “Chanyeol left already?” he stuttered.

Jessica, who was wiping the counters, turned to him with a confused face. “Who?”

Realizing his slip-up, Baekhyun shook his head. “Nothing.” He then took a broom and helped his co-worker clean up the place.

 

Baekhyun had always liked the city lights.

It was times like these when Baekhyun could relax the most. The grassy road just across the bridge that separated his work zone and his apartment complex’s area had always been his favorite. In some nights, during the right times, he could watch in awe as fireflies flew all around him, moving like small stars in the air. The fresh breeze that came from the river beside the road was also one of the many things liked about the path.

Although walking through this road would take him longer than normal to reach his apartment, Baekhyun would still choose to walk the path just to glance at the wonderful scenery.

It was a surprise, though, that the road was almost always deserted during the night. Rumors of unsuspected killers and rotting bodies made the people avoid the route, robbing them of the view. Baekhyun never believed the rumors, though, since he had never seen a single dead body in the place.

Which is why he was surprised to see an old box at the side of the road that night.

_Is this it? Am I going to witness a crime scene now?_ Baekhyun thought. _Please don’t contain chopped body parts._

And then he heard a whimper.

Baekhyun approached the box and saw a small pup sticking itself to the corner of the box, obviously afraid and abandoned. He picked the pup up and it had immediately taken a liking to him, licking his hands and trying to paw at his face.

“Sorry, bud,” he said. “I can’t raise you.”

He put the pup down, somewhere out of the box, hoping that someone might see it and take care of it in his stead. Giving the pup one last look, he left it alone.

Or so he thought.

He already started walking back home for a few minutes when he noticed some sounds from behind. Thinking it was just some trick of the wind, he continued walking, but then it started getting louder until he couldn’t ignore it anymore.

And then there was the pup.

“Hey, I told you,” he said, kneeling. “I’m too broke to take care of you, alright? Go find another owner.”

The puppy blinked at him.

Sighing, he stood up, realizing that dogs can’t understand human language. He continued to walk home, thinking that the pup may get tired of walking on the way and leave him alone.

Except it didn’t.

He was only a few steps away from his apartment complex when he realized that the pup was still following him. Finally giving up, he picked the pup up and decided to take him home.

“Aren’t you persistent,” Baekhyun said. “Just like someone I know.”

The puppy licked his arm.

“Should I name you . . . Mongryong?” he asked. “Would you like that?”

Before entering the building, Baekhyun looked up at the stars, twinkling in spite of the darkness.

 

It was past noon when Baekhyun stepped into the apartment, taking off his wet shoes and socks as he hanged his coat behind the door. He blew warm air in his cupped hands and rubbed his arms, trying to warm himself as he looked around his lit apartment. He froze.

Something was wrong.

Alarmed, Baekhyun walked deeper into the room, picking Mongryong up and holding him close to his chest. There was an unsettling feeling in his stomach as he scanned the studio. His things were in the same place they were in before he left; he knew this because he didn’t have anything much in his possession. Everything was normal—no, Sherlock.

He hadn’t forgotten to turn off the lights, had he?

But every single lightbulb inside the flat was turned on. No, he couldn’t have left his apartment like this. He was keenly on about keeping his electricity bill as low as possible. Then why…

Slowly, he trudged towards the kitchen where he heard shuffling sound from, prepared to launch an attack if needed. He put down Mongryong, who, as if sensing the danger as well, waddled behind him.

“What the hell?”

Slowly, the Master turned to him, breadcrumbs still stuck on the areas around his mouth. Despite being caught red-handed, he did not seem very bothered by the fact that he was practically trespassing someone’s place, regardless of his affiliation to the host. “Hello there, my best Villain.”

Baekhyun breathed deeply, calming himself. The Master may be a pain in the ass, but he doesn’t think his future will be very bright if he decides to choke the Master to death. “What are you doing here?”

“Oh, I’m eating,” the motherfucker replied, and even had the audacity to offer Baekhyun his own food. Food that was not his. Food that he stole from Baekhyun. Food that Baekhyun was planning to force down his mouth to choke him. Any other synonyms?

“No. I meant why are you here. In my house.” _Eating my fucking food._ But of course he left that out because he still values his boring life, thank you very much.

Straightening his posture, the Master wiped his mouth clean and started to get down to business. “I’m here to talk to you.”

At this, Baekhyun’s eyes turned hopeful. “Are you going to take me back? Is this fairytale cancelled?”

“I don’t ‘cancel’ fairytales, Byun,” the Master said solemnly.

There was something in his tone that made Baekhyun feel uneasy. Despite this, he still managed to ask, “What is it?”

Instead of answering immediately, the Master walked past him and made himself comfortable on the couch, almost kicking Mongryong in the process. His playful aura was gone, and instead replaced by gloominess. His face, although funny, told Baekhyun that what he was going to say will not be very pretty.

“I think you know very well that I’m not someone who likes lagging students,” the Master said, his voice acidic. “Especially during _really special_ cases.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Do you even _know_ what you’re apologizing for, Baekhyun?” the Master asked, and Baekhyun kept his mouth shut. Because truthfully, _he didn’t_. However, the former still noticed the message, and laughed manically. “Of course you don’t. You were busy dilly-dallying with those childhood friends of yours, am I right?”

“I’m sorry.”

The Master hummed thoughtfully. “Perhaps I should eliminate those friends of yours. That should get you back to work.”

Baekhyun’s eyes widened. From his side, he heard Mongryong whimper pitifully. The poor pup must have noticed the tense atmosphere in the room. “Amber and Joohyuk have nothing to do with this. Leave them out.”

The Master’s eyes hardened.

“Don’t tell me what to do.”

His heart almost stopped when the Master stood up from his seat. Baekhyun, knowing that he was not allowed to touch the Master insensitively, blocked the latter’s way instead.

The Master stared at him and he stared back, not wanting to back down, until they heard a bark. They both looked down and saw Mongryong fruitlessly tugging on the Master’s cape, wanting to help his owner in the only way he could.

After a few seconds, the Master laughed. “You even brought home a _dog_. What is this, Byun?”

“ _Please_ , sir.”

The Master sat back down, finally complying. Baekhyun felt relieved.

But they weren’t finished yet.

“Baekhyun,” the Master started, looking directly at Baekhyun. “Do you know how far the pen has written now?”

“No, sir.”

“It last moved when you and Chanyeol first met,” said the Master. “Do you know how far in the fairytale your currently are?”

“No, sir.”

“That’s basically just _Once Upon a Time_ , Byun.” The Master gave him a long, judging stare. “Just Once Upon a Time.”

“I’m sorry, sir.”

The Master tiredly massaged his temple as he laid back on the couch. “This conversation will never end if you keep saying your ‘pardon-me’s, Baekhyun.”

“I’m sorry—“

“Baekhyun, stop. Are you even yourself right now? Look at you,” the Master said, eyeing him up and down. “You don’t look like my best student at all.”

Baekhyun’s ears twitched.

“Listen, Baekhyun.” He didn’t want to, but he listened anyway. “I know you’re in a rough situation, but a job is a job. You have to make a move if you want to get this done.”

Baekhyun avoided the Master’s piercing gaze.

The Master sighed. “I feel like I failed as a teacher.”

The Villain flinched.

“This will be my last and only advice to you, alright?” At this, Baekhyun nodded. “Whenever you feel like you don’t know what to do, ask yourself, ‘What am I? Who am I?’ Because the moment you forget who you are, it’s the end.”

The Master waited for a few moments, but Baekhyun sat silent and unmoving. Knowing that his message got through, he figured that it was time to leave.

“You better do something already, Baekhyun,” the Master warned before vanishing. And there was something grim left unsaid, truth to be told.

 

Baekhyun stares blankly at the ceiling that night, ignoring Mongryong’s little barks just outside his bedroom. He doesn’t feel the need to change out of his working clothes. He just thinks about everything that’s happened to him that week, devising a plan in a way he knew that would hurt Kyungsoo. His _friend_.

Thinking about Chanyeol’s offer, he sighs.

_I’m a Villain. I am Evil._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just kill kyungsoo. the end
> 
> (also, belated happy birthday Baekhyun and me!!! >~<)


	7. Pretty Little Liars

It came out as a shock when Baekhyun handed his resignation letter in.

He had worked on it all night. Not a single word seemed fit to be sent to his boss except apologies, but then it would have sounded informal. Baekhyun had stared at the blank paper for hours, assuring himself that this was right, it was only right for him to leave. Especially now, before they could even notice that he hadn’t aged a day ever since he first stepped into that pizza parlor. However, it sounded more of a consolation rather than assurance, the feeling of isolation sinking deep into his heart.

_Villain._

“What?” said his boss as soon as Baekhyun handed him his letter. “Are you serious? Baekhyun, you’ve worked here for _years_ —“

“Then it’s all the more reason for me to leave, isn’t it?” Baekhyun said, cutting his boss off. He had prepared for this to happen. “There’s really nothing for me in here. I want to start anew.”

_Such a pretty liar, aren’t you, Baekhyun?_

“Well,” his boss, whom he had grown fond of, said pensively. “If that’s what you really want, then I guess this is it.”

“Yes.” Baekhyun tugged on the hem of his shirt. “This is what I want.”

_Villains lie. Princesses don’t._

Baekhyun shook his head, pushing the memory out of his mind as he walked out of the office. As he was going for the stairs, he bumped on Jessica, who was currently holding two boxes of pizza on her hands. Why she was holding pizza boxes in the second floor of the shop was a mystery, but he didn’t bother to ask.

“Kyoong?” Jessica said uncertainly, looking at him from top to bottom. “Why are you not wearing your uniform? And you’re late—“

The Villain didn’t get to hear the rest of the sentence as he quickly strode past her, heading for the stairs. He felt his heart constrict at his own action, although it was something he was bound to get used to. Baekhyun felt his co-worker’s lingering stare at him as he walked away, but he didn’t look back.

Just as he thought he was finally free, he came across Henry after getting out of their little pizza parlor. Henry looked curiously at Baekhyun as he removed his helmet, having just come back from a delivery. Henry smiled. However, like what he did with Jessica, Baekhyun turned the other way, leaving his now former colleague dumbfounded.

_You don’t have friends, Baekhyun._

_Villains can’t have friends._

 

The day stayed hot until the late afternoon, when the previously clear sky was suddenly filled with dirty clouds, covering every inch of blue space. Soccer practice had ended. The locker room was empty, as each of the boys had been eager to go home on a whim.

It was like a routine now. A habit. Jongin had stayed behind on the benches waiting for the other players to leave. It wasn’t as if he disliked the other boys—no, they were like his brothers—but really, after a day of nonstop running and kicking and shouting at each other, he couldn’t really find it in himself to appreciate any more human interaction.

He wondered if Baekhyun had gone to school. Unlikely. The brunet had told him he was going to quit all of his jobs today and what comes after that was a mystery to Jongin. Though he knew Baekhyun, the latter was just too hard to read sometimes.

“Jongin.”

Startled, the said male turned. His eyes brightened at the sight of Baekhyun, standing by the door in his uniform. The brunet really had gone to school after all. _Fitting_ , he thought. _I had just been thinking of you._

“You’re here?” Jongin asked, pleasantly surprised.

Baekhyun gave him a look. “Why won’t I be?” he said, proceeding to sit with the male. The brunet poked his cheek and gestured at his legs. “Stop staring at me and put your pants on. I think I’ve seen enough of your chicken legs in a single lifetime.”

“I don’t have chicken legs,” he retaliated, but pulled his pants on anyway. And then, in a moment of realization, Jongin abruptly stood up and closed his locker with more force than necessary.

“What’s wrong?” Baekhyun asked with concern, standing up.

“Nothing,” Jongin answered almost immediately. He then cleared his throat and grabbed his duffel bag, hoping to the gods that Baekhyun won’t pick up on his weird behavior. “Let’s go.”

To his relief, Baekhyun doesn’t say anything else. Jongin vaguely remembers that one time Yibo teased him about his locker’s contents, but that’s a story for another time.

“Did you fetch Kyungsoo?” he asked instead.

“Nah, didn’t go to school, said he had something to do,” said Baekhyun. “Now that I think about it, it probably involves Chanyeol.”

Jongin snorted. “Does he ever even talk about other things?”

“He does.”

“Like?”

“How annoying your dad is,” Baekhyun said offhandedly, sticking a lollipop into his mouth. “Come to think of it, like father like son.”

“I’m offended,” Jongin said blankly.

“It _is_ weird, though,” said Baekhyun, ignoring him. “I’ve been in a lot of fairy tales but this is the first time I’ve seen a Princess pursuing a Prince.”

“Yeah, _how untraditional_.”

Baekhyun stopped and looked at him. “Don’t tell me you really are offended.”

“Nah, I’m kidding,” Jongin said with a grin. “Your sharp tongue don’t faze me anymore.”

“Doesn’t.”

“I knew you’d say that.”

 

“So when am I going to meet this dog you adopted?” Jongin said, crossing his arms, asking the real questions.

They both agreed to stay in Baekhyun’s apartment. As nice as the Silverwoods’ home abode can be, Jongin’s father can be a bit overbearing sometimes, especially when he comes home late. It’s not the first time they’re sleeping over. In fact, back when they were in China, they had keys to each other’s condominiums. Once, Baekhyun came back from work and had the shock of his life when he found an exhausted Jongin sleeping on his bed with shoes on. Those were the good times.

 “As soon as you step in,” said Baekhyun, opening the door to his studio. He flashed the dancer a smile, like he was confident that Jongin was going to like it, before stepping inside.

A bark was heard immediately, followed by the sound of paws meeting the floor and Baekhyun’s cooing. He picked the puppy up and held it out to Jongin, who stared at the dog in awe. “His name is Mongryong.”

“Why Mongryong?” Jongin asked, reaching out for the said pup. He cradled Mongryong in his arms like a baby, making noises that were supposed to be a coo but ended up like a cluck instead.

“I don’t know. It just came up,” Baekhyun replied, removing his shoes and placing it beside the door. He trudged to the kitchen. “What would you like for dinner?”

“Anything edible.”

“Not my cooking, then,” Baekhyun murmured, reaching up to the cupboards for some kind of food. Canned? Cup noodles? Anything he didn’t eat the night before? “Dammit, let’s just call Kyungsoo.”

“Please don’t,” Jongin said, plopping down the sofa, Mongryong in his arms. “I’m too tired for that shit.”

While Baekhyun was busy preparing something to eat, Jongin took his time getting to know his pup. It seemed that Mongryong liked him too—he kept licking Jongin’s fingers and nuzzling his face in them. Mongryong produced a squeaky, guttural sound as he lied down on the tanned male’s stomach, having found a comfortable position to sleep in.

Jongin kept on caressing the dog’s soft black fur. It had been a long time since he’s held a dog, and it felt good to finally—

“Fuck. What is that?” Jongin muttered, seeing something white protruding from the dog’s upper jaw. He grabbed Mongryong’s mouth and forced it to open, causing the dog to wake up and paw at his arm. He paid it no attention. “Is that…?”

A critter.

Baekhyun got a fucking critter.

“BAEKHYUN!” Jongin dashed to the kitchen, where the said male was struggling to open a can of corned beef in.

Baekhyun was alarmed. “What? What happened?”

“Critter!” Jongin said, holding Mongryong up like Rafiki did to Simba. “You have a critter, Baek!”

“You’re kidding,” Baekhyun said.

“I’m not! Look!” Jongin pointed at Mongryong’s mouth, lifting the upper lip. Something white was protruding, a sharp tooth long enough to reach the lower jaw, like a prong. It wasn’t something that Baekhyun hadn’t noticed, amongst other things. He just didn’t want to make a big deal out of it. “See that tooth? This one’s a bloody _Sabriel_ , Baek. It’s like a saber tooth, but larger.”

“Amazing,” Baekhyun said, denial dripping off his lips. “But it could be just, like, you know, _a normal tooth_?”

“It’s not. It’s not normal. Look at these two—they grew first before the rest. And it’s abnormally large. That’s not how a normal dog’s teeth work, Baek. How can you not notice?” Jongin shot. “Trust me, I’m a dog expert.”

“Newsflash, Mr. Dog Whisperer: that’s how it normally works,” Baekhyun retorted and opted to continue his can-opening quest. “Trust me, I watch _Animal Planet_.”

“Hilarious, Baek. I don’t think you understand.” The tanned male placed Mongryong on the counter and faced Baekhyun. “It didn’t grow like a dog’s.”

“So what’s your point?” Baekhyun said, watching, daring him to say it.

Jongin hesitated, but he knew. They both knew. “That you’re pure.”

At this point, Baekhyun’s expression was unreadable. “That can be two things. Pure Evil or Pure Good. Guess which one makes more sense?”

The silence that came afterward gave the answer. It wasn’t an unpleasant news, really. Being pure Villain is the best feat and the highest a Villain can reach. This might make him at least _something_ , with his current rank in the School. He’s pure. He can be worth _remembering_. But then, in the end, is a thousand years of being alive worth more than a day of truly living it?

“Not like it matters anyway,” Baekhyun said, and sighed. “Get some plates and let’s eat. I’m starving.”

Defeated, Jongin complied. The quietness that ensued was awkward, with only Mongryong’s constant whimpers in the background serving as music. However, neither of the two felt the need break the ice—if they even knew how to, after that issue—so they just left it at that.

The last sentence is a hoax. They _couldn’t_ just leave it at that—it was torture, seeing but not knowing how to talk to each other—especially since they were literally going to sleep in the same bed. Keywords: Baekhyun is broke. Too broke to buy a second bed where Jongin can sleep if ever they had a fight during a sleepover.

They moved, unspeaking, like everything had been planned beforehand. Jongin took the left side, Baekhyun the right. _Like old times._ This time, with Mongryong between them.

The duo listened to each other’s breathing awhile, trying to sleep, but both of them knew their day couldn’t end like this. Even their worst fights had been resolved before a day could pass, and it shouldn’t change just because of a disagreement about Baekhyun’s character.

Inhaling, he said—

“Jongin—“

“Baekhyun—“

They stopped, then let their held breath out.

“Are you mad?” Baekhyun asked.

“No. Are you?”

“No.”

Silence.                                          

“Oh. Okay.”

“Jongin, remember what I said about you trying to keep conversations alive with your late comebacks? Let it die, for Pete’s sake.”

Jongin smiled sheepishly. “Sorry. . .”

Mongryong shifted, catching their attention. It nuzzled its face into Baekhyun’s stomach, making low noises as it tried to find a comfortable position. Jongin stared as it did so. “What are you going to do with him?”

Staring fondly at Mongryong, Baekhyun caressed its head, lulling it to sleep. “I’m going to keep him, of course.”

“So you don’t mind?”

“No. Why would I?”

“Nothing. If you get tired of him, I’m always here.”

“Sorry, you’re a terrible pet.”

Jongin groaned, smiling at the quip. “That was a good one.”

Baekhyun laughed, whispering an ‘I know’, then yawned. “Good night, Jace Silverwood.”

“Good night—“

“Don’t—“

“Bernard Silverspoon.”

“Piece of shit,” Baekhyun said, although laughing along. “You got me there.”

Jongin grinned. “Payback is a bitch.”

“Indeed it is.”

“Don’t sleep yet,” he called, poking Baekhyun’s cheek. “Hey.”

The brunet hummed. “What?”

_Say it._

“I love you.”

Baekhyun smiled. “You too, Jongin.”

 _He doesn’t mean it. He doesn’t mean it, Jongin._ “Okay.”

Jongin closed his eyes. It’s a wonder how the brunet could be so cunning and naïve at the same time. Maybe that was part of Baekhyun’s charm—but seeing as he was in love with the brunet for most of his life, does it really matter?

***

When he said he’ll do anything to have Chanyeol, he didn’t mean having to wait for hours just to get the man to meet him without a prearranged appointment.

It’s too late to turn back now. He skipped school for this, for his Prince—his grades be damned—and he wasn’t about to waste everything he’s already done. He’s going to see Chanyeol _now_ , and he’ll make sure of it. Kyungsoo had talked to Chanyeol’s assistant about four hours ago and was yet to come back, though he was kept updated by the receptionist about the CEO’s whereabouts.

_“He went to a meeting somewhere else earlier. He’ll be back soon.”_

_“Oh, he’s back.”_

_“Mr. Park currently has another meeting to attend. Can you wait for another hour, Sir?”_

“Sure,” Kyungsoo said. When she was already out of hearing range, he muttered, “Bitch.” He put all his frustration in that one word. She’s probably jealous and is keeping his prince away from him. Well, whatever, she’s not going to win. He’ll ace this shit for sure.

After about an hour, Kyungsoo is already laying on one of the sofas, sleeping.

“Where is he?” Chanyeol asked his assistant, who then pointed at the sleeping figure in one of their lounges. A feeling of dread suddenly washed over him. “Do I have any more appointments?”

“No, sir. That was your last appointment.”

“Can you set another? Call someone, do something. Anything.”

“I’m afraid I can’t, Sir.”

Of course, he knew that, but he had to take chances. Chanyeol sighed and massaged his temple, feeling another headache coming on. After dismissing his assistant, he proceeded towards the sleeping male. “Kyungsoo.”

At the sound of his voice, Kyungsoo woke up straightaway. “Chanyeol!” he said, smiling, appreciating how Chanyeol looked today. He looked astonishingly handsome in his work suit and with his hair pushed back, whereas Kyungsoo was only in his _Girls Generation_ t-shirt and worn out jeans. It’s the perfect imbalance. “Finally! I was starting to think you’re avoiding me.”

“What are you doing here, Kyungsoo?”

“I love it when you say my name,” Kyungsoo said dreamily. “Oh, wait! I got something for you.” He reached for a fabric bag and handed it to the other man, who was obviously surprised. He untied the knot and let the box be seen, proudly presenting his gift. “Cupcakes. I baked them myself.”

“Thanks . . .” Chanyeol said, unsure. He didn’t particularly like sweets, but how could he say no? Kyungsoo looked like he worked hard on these. He’ll just give it to Sehun later. “You didn’t have to do this.”

“You’re welcome!” Kyungsoo chirped. “Don’t sweat it. Anyway, why didn’t you call me?”

Chanyeol was confused. “What?”

“I gave you my number, right? I kept waiting for you to call, or text at least, but you never did.” Kyungsoo had this disappointed look on his face that made Chanyeol feel guilty.

“…Sorry. It kind of slipped my mind.”

“Give me your number,” the doe-eyed male demanded, holding his hand out. He was having none of it today. They’ll have each other’s numbers, text till the sun sets and rises and that’s final. “Your personal number.”

Chanyeol was conflicted. “I… Kyungsoo, I have other things to do.”

“It won’t take a minute! Jeez,” the other said and started patting Chanyeol’s pockets in search of his phone, startling the Prince.

“What are you doing?!” he bellowed.

“Give me your phone,” Kyungsoo said, sounding a lot more authoritative than the previous time.

“I left my phone in my office.” It’s true, and Chanyeol was damn glad he did.

Kyungsoo was unfazed. “Your number, then.”

“I didn’t memorize it.”

“What—!”

“Excuse me,” an unfamiliar woman said, catching their attention. She was talking to the receptionist, but what caught Chanyeol’s eye was the uniform of that pizza parlor always asked delivery from. He knew, because it was similar to what Baekhyun had always worn. “Pizza for… Park Chanyeol?”

Chanyeol excused himself and walked over to where she is. “That’s me.”

“Oh. Here you go, Sir,” she said, handing his assistant the boxes. Chanyeol had the receptionist give her the payment as he read her nametag.

Before she could leave, Chanyeol called her name. “Jessica?”

“Yes, Sir?”

“Where’s the… previous worker who usually does the deliveries here?” At this, Jessica looked confused. “Bernard?”

“Oh. Bernard.” For some reason, Jessica looked somber. He couldn’t fathom why, though. “He’s not working with us anymore.”

“Ah, really…” Chanyeol couldn’t hide the disappointment in his face. “Thank you, Jessica.”

“Are you going to stop asking for deliveries now?”

Chanyeol was surprised at the question. He knew he wasn’t exactly being inconspicuous in his ways, but he’d never thought that of all people, some random woman named Jessica would be the one who’d realize. That certain woman was boring holes through his head with her stare at the moment, and Chanyeol found himself struggling to make a reply. “I . . . I guess so.”

“Okay. It was nice meeting you. Have a great day,” she said in a monotone, and left.

He stared at her retreating figure for a few more seconds, until reminded of Kyungsoo’s presence when the latter offered him a slice of his own pizza. “This pizza is shit, but I’m starving,” Kyungsoo added. Chanyeol tried to maintain his sanity by ignoring the boy.

A ring suddenly pierced through the air, making them both turn their heads at the source. Chanyeol’s secretary was currently running towards him, his phone in her hand. “Sir,” she started, but Chanyeol had already snatched his phone and was pleasantly surprised when he saw who the caller was.

_Baekhyun calling. . ._

 

Even after everything, Kyungsoo didn’t get to spend time with his beloved. Chanyeol was too out of his wits after his encounter with that weird woman, and they both didn’t want to deal with it. Kyungsoo reminded Chanyeol one last time, before leaving, to call him.

He was laying on his bed, phone in his hand, waiting for the call, when he heard the doorbell ring. Kyungsoo immediately jumped out of bed and ran to the door. Maybe Chanyeol really wanted to see him after all.

His disappointment when he opened the door was unmistakable.

“Expecting someone?” Jongin said, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes,” Kyungsoo answered almost instantaneously and was about to shut the door on his face when he caught Baekhyun’s figure behind him. “Ben?”

“Hi. Can I come inside?”

Kyungsoo was confused, but answered, “Sure,” and opened the door wide for them once again. He considered not letting Jongin in but then he remembered, _oh yeah, the bastard lives here. FML._ “I’ll get you some water.”

“Thanks!” Jongin said.

“Not you, Jace.” Kyungsoo went to the kitchen, sighing. He grabbed some of the failed cupcakes he tried to bake for Chanyeol and removed the burnt areas before putting it on a tray. “What’s the matter, by the way?”

“Oh, nothing. Just things,” Baekhyun said, loud enough to let Kyungsoo hear it.

“That reminds me. I heard you resigned from that pizza parlor?” said Kyungsoo, grabbing the tray and walking to the living room where the two males are sitting.

Baekhyun pursed his lips. “I’m going to work for . . . my brother.”

 “Oh, yeah, about that thing,” Kyungsoo said, reminiscing, as he put the tray down the table. He sat opposite Baekhyun, posture prim as he swung a leg over the other, in contrast to the Villain who had his thighs spread, ankles crossed, and hand lazily slung over the head of the couch. Baekhyun was then reminded why Kyungsoo was a Princess and he wasn’t. “Why didn’t you just work with him from the start?”

Baekhyun wanted to cry.

He honestly hadn’t thought of that. The brunet chugged a glass of water to avoid answering, but even when he put the glass down already, Kyungsoo was still looking at him, enquiring an answer. Baekhyun bit his lip nervously.

“Well, um, you see . . .” _See what? Hurry! SEE WHAT?!?!_ “I . . . wanted to be independent . . . ?”

 _I’m so smooth._ Baekhyun mentally patted himself on the back. Of course, even after everything, he was still the top Villain. He hasn’t lost his touch yet, right?

Shaking his head, Kyungsoo clicked his tongue. “Well, that didn’t get you very far, did it?”

Baekhyun didn’t know whether to feel insulted at the statement or relieved that Kyungsoo bought the excuse. “Yeah. Sure. Um.”

“I’d ask Uncle to hire you since he pays really good, but we’ve never really been in good terms with each other,” added Kyungsoo, his expression sour. He sighed a little more dramatically than what Baekhyun would have considered natural. “Bummer. My job would’ve been a lot more bearable with you.”

Baekhyun let out a shaky laugh. As if he’d want a job from that old man anyways.

“Man, these cupcakes are shit,” Jongin said out of the blue. “Did I bake these when I was sleeping?”

Baekhyun pinched Jongin’s knee, trying to get the message across as he faked a laugh. “Hahaha, Jace, what are you talking about?”

For a split second, Baekhyun thought he was feeling murderous vibes, but disregarded it when Kyungsoo smiled. It was quite a weird smile, though, especially on him. “Oh, those? I got them from the supermarket, just thought you should try it. It was amazing when I tasted it. Maybe you got the spoiled one?”

Before Jongin could say anything, Baekhyun slapped his back and gave him a look.

“Just a trick of the tongue,” Jongin finally said, coughing.

“It’s okay. Things happen.” Kyungsoo smiled kindly. “Would you like some more?”

“Yes, some more water. Thanks,” Jongin said in between coughs.

Baekhyun had never wanted to slap someone so much before, but when Kyungsoo actually got up to get water, he guessed that it didn’t matter. He silently thanked the gods that Princesses were raised naïve. That’s one less problem.

“God, I feel like throwing up,” Jongin said beside him.

“Endure it. For the sake of us both. Please?”

***

The first time Amber saw a critter, she was eight. Now, they’re everywhere around her.

She’s never imagined she would grow up taking care of abandoned critters. When Amber was young, she had dreamt of being a knight—a valorous, sturdy knight of the Kingsguard, protecting the king with her life. Her father was one, and he had been the one who would encourage her. He was her hero.

Her mother soon knew of her interests. _You are a Duchess,_ she’d said. _You will marry a Prince and get the life you deserve. You will not sit on a stool and shine your armor until the King summons you to die._

She had rebelled against this—until one unfortunate day. It was an ambush, they’d said. It hadn’t even been a war. The militias were simply escorting the King and his son through their stroll, and it was ended before they knew it.

The King and the Prince escaped. Her father did not.

Her mother wept, begged on her to give up her dream. _Don’t be like your father_ , she’d said, but Amber protested. She had just lost her father and she wasn’t about to lose that one thing that connects her to him, too. However, her mother tried to seal her fate with that one Lord from Kaesif, leading her to try and kill herself.

“And then Baekhyun came along,” a man said, interrupting her thoughts. “And me, of course.”

“Joohyuk, what the hell?” she said once she recovered, hand on her chest. “Don’t do that. It’s creepy.”

“Got you on that one, didn’t I?”

Amber rolled her eyes. “I wasn’t thinking about anything.”

“Oh, come on! You were thinking about the past. I know that look,” Joohyuk insisted, patting her chin affectionately. “And the answer is always ‘Until Baekhyun came along.’”

She smacked him. “Asshole. Stop making fun of me.”

“I’m not. Sorry.” He raised his hands in defeat. Joohyuk sat next to her as she cradled a critter on her lap. It looked like a mix of a cat and a bird, with its wings sharp but lacking feathers, purring softly as it slept. He figured it was a newborn. “What’s that called?”

“A Mauxinir,” Amber answered, curling its tail around her finger. “His mother gave birth to him today. Cute, isn’t it?”

“Ah, the one Ariel owned?” he asked, staring, and Amber nodded. He then looked around at her place, seeing cages stacked one upon the other, each containing at least two critters. “If you think about it, it’s really sad that these things get abandoned after their owners die. Eternal life really sucks, eh?”

“A lot of things get abandoned all the time,” she answers plainly. “And people. You don’t see them being sad about it.”

“Of course you don’t. They can’t mope around forever,” Joohyuk replies, biting his lip. “Life goes on. Things find new owners. Humans just aren’t as lucky.”

Amber continued on caressing the critter, opting to stay silent. The room was quiet, since it was siesta time for most of the loud critters, and she had wisely chosen this time to let her old friend over. Her home wasn’t grandiose—just enough to fit a handful of critters in, most of which she hides at the Moonlight Market where she works as a merchant. It had been her home for ages, the critters the closest she can get for a family.

“Hey,” Joohyuk called, trying to catch her attention. He stuttered then, trying to find his words. “Um, I got married last month.”

Amber glanced at him. “I know. You phoned me on your wedding night.”

“You know what this means, right?” When Amber didn’t answer, Joohyuk sighed. “I’m sorry. I tried to convince her—I really did.”

“I know. You don’t have to explain yourself.”

“Yeah but I—“ Joohyuk stopped and groaned. “God. Sucks to have a Prince as a friend, doesn’t it?”

“Does Baekhyun know?”

“Fuck. Yeah, he does. Shit. I really fucked up this time, didn’t I?” he said, putting his head on his hands, his elbows on his knees. “I’m really sorry.”

“Don’t be. You still have the rest of your life to be with us,” Amber said, although it seemed like she was holding back. “You can’t make Sungkyung wait forever. You were supposed to have your happy ending two decades ago.”

Joohyuk was mildly surprised. “That long?” he muttered.

“What sucks is having a Villain and a Critterby as friends,” Amber continued, her hands slowing to a stop. Then, she laughed. “Oh my god. I’ll finally get to see you as an old man.”

“We’re having a crisis here and that’s what you think of?” Joohyuk said, offended.

“Oh, come on. Just because you get to _die_ and we _don’t_ doesn’t mean we can’t joke about it. Lighten up, will ya?” she quipped, trying to ease up the situation. “Like I said, people get abandoned all the time. Don’t sweat it too much.”

“That doesn’t make it any less painful,” Joohyuk said. “Even for me.”

“Oh, dear, of course it doesn’t. You don’t get used to it either, no matter how much you say you do. You just have to live with it and hope that things will get better,” Amber answered, smiling. “Why are you even complaining? You’re not the one getting left behind. Idiot.”

Joohyuk stared at her, searching her eyes, until she stared back. They held their gazes for a while, challenging each other, and Amber had been the one to back down.

They cried together that night, wondering what could have happened if things were better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally updated! Wow. I hope you haven't given up on this story yet. It'll get better, hopefully.  
> And in case you forgot, Joohyuk and Amber are baekhyun's friends (introduced in Chapter 5, I think). They're good guys.  
> This is shit, I know. I worked on this the whole day but I'm too out of it, I didn't even reread this what the hell. I have no idea if I missed writing a scene so if you found something weird, please do tell me. : D


	8. In the Cold of Winter

_The chamber was dark and eerily quiet. It wasn’t something that you could get used to no matter how long. He couldn’t get a sense of anything—the only thing he could grasp was the sound of the clock ticking to his right, the repetitive clicks frightening him the more he listens to it._

Sheep, _he thought_ , Mama says to count them if I can’t sleep. _But there were neither sheep, nor light, nor the heaviness in his eyelids that would help him ignore the pain he was feeling, or even the energy to shout. Even if he could, he has no reason to. The only thing he had was the sting of the icicles forming on the surface of his skin, reminding him that he’s still alive, he’s awake._

_Winter had finally come, he figured, for he could feel its merciless chill from the tips of his fingers to the sole of his feet. He was as bare as when he was born, and perhaps that was better. It would have done him more pain if he had clothes._

_How many more hours until the day passes? He was counting, many hours ago, but he lost track of time now. He passed out for who knows how long, but even Hypnos was too furious to keep him unconscious for the rest of his hours. They left him in a position wherein he couldn’t even move to warm himself, or curl into a ball of self-pity. He had ropes tying his hands and across his chest, and was hanged like a pig in a slaughterhouse._

Tick, tock, tick, tock.

_Then there was muffled shouting, louder and louder as shadows closed in, reminding him of the monsters his mother used to scare him with. He turned his head and saw light coming through the narrow openings of a jammed door, watching as the shadows danced like a play. There were voices he recognized, but wished he didn’t, followed by a series of harsh thumps on the floor, banging and ringing in his ears._

_Footsteps._

_“That child is evil! We need to put him in the Dark Castle, where he belongs!”_

_Another voice answered, deeper and more melancholic, like an ocean. “But there has never been such an occasion that a student transferred schools halfway through the schoolyear.”_

_“It’s not forbidden either, is it? Perhaps The Master made a mistake?”_

_“That can’t be possible. I checked the Accords. This must be a case of calumny.”_

_“Madrid, he_ killed _a man! What other reason do you need?”_

_“And what news about the other child?”_

_“He was—“_

“Baekhyun!”

With a hard shake, Baekhyun jolted up, panting. The first thing he saw was Jongin’s hazel green eyes looking straight at him, searching, and he wonders for a spit-second why he was seeing Jongin early in the morning. The framed photos laying on top of a drawer reminded him that he had spent the night over Jongin’s, falling asleep in the living room after watching a movie.

“Oh my god. You okay?” Jongin asked, proceeding then to cover him with a blanket. The taller male blew warm air into his hands, pressing and rubbing them together, and held Baekhyun’s face with it, as if to pass heat.

“Yeah,” Baekhyun said, groaning. He reached up to his arms, covering and curling himself, shielding himself from the inevitable chilling sensation. He pulled out of Jongin’s hold and steadied himself on the sofa. “I’m fine, Jongin.”

“Bad dream?”

Baekhyun answered with a nod, feeling too stupefied to speak. It was not the first time he’d been having this kind of dreams, but it never failed to unsettle him still. He was trembling, either from terror or the coldness of his skin—or both, he didn’t know. All he knew was that the nightmares won’t be going away anytime soon, or ever.

He clutched the blanket tighter around himself, prompting Jongin to hug him. It’s not the first time Jongin saw him like this, either. For some reason the male was always there, like he was born to do it. It’s comforting—to know that he’s not alone, that he still has someone to turn to at the end of the road, but he didn’t know if it will be enough.

“Still cold?” Jongin said, caressing his hair softly.

“I . . .” Baekhyun let out a shaky breath, closing his eyes. “Jongin, thank you.”

Despite having his eyes closed, he felt Jongin’s smile, even seeing it at the back of his eyelids. The thought made him warm inside, even more so when Jongin started rubbing his back. “You’re doing better than before.”

“Really?” Baekhyun said, chuckling quietly as he opened his eyes.

Jongin pulled away and looked at him. “Yeah,” he said, wearing a wistful smile. Then he looked troubled. “I wish you would tell me what your dreams are about.”

Sighing softly, Baekhyun looked away. “Trust me, Jongin, it’s nothing you don’t already know.”

And he did know. Jongin just wanted him to say it in a direct manner, but the latter just didn’t want to talk about it. It seemed that Baekhyun was trying to avoid those kind of topics altogether. However, Jongin looked at him meaningfully, and Baekhyun knew exactly what he was trying to say. _You can’t keep running away forever._

Kyungsoo chose that moment to show up from his room. “Guys, how do I look?” he said, and turned around. He was wearing a blue denim jacket on top of a white shirt, fitted black pants, and brown sneakers. What Baekhyun noticed the most was his moppy hair, which was dyed brown. The last time he saw Kyungsoo, his hair had been black, and that had been last night.

“When did you dye your hair?” he asked.

“Last night, after you guys fell asleep on me,” Kyungsoo answered plainly. “Saw this _YouTube_ tutorial about how to dye hair fast using crepe paper. Does it look good?”

“Yes,” Baekhyun said before Jongin could open his mouth. “Where are you going?”

“To Yixing’s party.”

“ _Yixing_ ’s party?” Jongin said, incredulous. “Isn’t that kid, like, twelve?”

“Oh, come on. We’re graduating. It’s time he acted like his age,” Kyungsoo said offhandedly. He had been one of those people who liked to make fun of Yixing’s character, Baekhyun suddenly recalled. “Think of it as his baptism. Zhang Yixing: the reborn.”

“I didn’t know that,” said Baekhyun, who was watching him fix his hair in front of a mirror.

Kyungsoo shrugged. “It was posted on the underground website just yesterday. Everyone’s going nuts about it,” he said. “You guys coming?”

“But it’s morning,” Jongin said.

“Not now, you fool,” Kyungsoo said, rolling his eyes. “The party’s at six. I’m gonna go shopping first. Jace broke my eyeliner pen.”

Baekhyun looked at the accused, who had the look of panic in his face. “I thought it was a marker,” Jongin said in his defense.

“Still, how do you _break_ an eyeliner pen?”

Jongin looked like a kicked puppy. “Well…”

“He was writing on a paper, and it didn’t work well _because it’s not supposed to be used on paper_ , and he thought it was either broken or just a shitty marker _so he tore it in half_ ,” Kyungsoo explained unkindly. “And it was a goddamn _Anastasia_ , for Pete’s sake.”

Baekhyun whistled. “You should put that in the reviews. Three stars. Works well with human faces, but not for school projects. Do not recommend.”

“Very funny,” Kyungsoo deadpanned. “I’m leaving.” He walked out, closing the door with a loud bang.

The remaining two stared at each other.

“Think he’s mad?”

“Who cares? He’s always been such a _prima donna_ ,” Jongin said, and shrugged. He sounded rather calm for someone who broke someone else’s eyeliner pen. “Let’s go get breakfast.”

“You can cook?” Baekhyun asked in a moment of astonishment.

“No, and there’s nothing here except Kyungsoo’s crap cupcakes and leftover Chinese,” Jongin replied. “Let’s hail a cab.”

 

“Is this your way of apologizing?” Baekhyun asked in a monotone.

Royal Café didn’t change much—it was still as elaborate as it had been when it first opened, only with less people and more vacant tables. It seemed like forever since he last stepped inside, but he could still recall every bit of his first encounter with Chanyeol. Baekhyun’s face flushed in embarrassment at the memory.

“You can say that,” Jongin said, “but I’ve never really tried their coffee, and I keep hearing about how good it is. This is the moment of truth.”

“Like you’d be a reliable evaluator.” Baekhyun snorted. “You _hate_ coffee, Jongin.”

“Frappe’s still on the menu. Besides,” Jongin reasoned, “I heard they added Italian spaghetti on the list. Yibo says their spaghetti _fra diavolo_ is to die for.”

“All right, you keep mentioning this Yibo to me, but I seen him never. You sure he’s not imaginary?” said Baekhyun as the glass door shut behind them.

Jongin grinned. “I’d let you meet him, but I’m not sure if he’ll be as charitable towards you.”

“Why’s that?”

They reached the counter and ordered, Baekhyun a Café au Lait, Jongin a frappe, both of them the well-received spaghetti. “Well, there’s this rumor that you’d been going out with a sugar daddy,” Jongin answered helpfully.

Baekhyun let out what sounded like a strangled noise. “What the hell? A _sugar daddy_?” he said, incredulous. “They can’t mean Chanyeol, right?”

Jongin shrugged. “Maybe,” he said as he set down the tray on their table. “I mean, he did go to our school, with his Princely looks and all that, and even brought his damn macho car. The guy sure knows how to make interesting headlines. ‘CEO of Park Empires, showing off in a high school’, or ‘Chairman Park Chanyeol, reportedly a pedophile’.”

Baekhyun had the strong urge to bang his head on the table. Chanyeol was such an idiot. “But it was Kyungsoo who went with him!”

“Yeah, well, that’s not even half as interesting as the couple who agressively altercated in a café. Come to think of it, I don’t even think anyone sees Kyungsoo in the picture,” Jongin said. “Don’t sweat it, though. Mr. Rich Ass took care of them before it got out of hand.”

“And no one ever told me this?”

“I thought you knew,” Jongin explained, taking a mouthful of spaghetti. “Mmm, this is so good.”

Baekhyun was silent for a moment. “Maybe if I bang my head on this table hard enough I will die,” he mused.

Jongin huffed, as if the statement amused him. “Not on my watch.”

Stressed, Baekhyun forked on his spaghetti, having lost the appetite. He roamed his eyes around the café. The Italian leitmotif reminded him of his time in the country. It was during those times when he started going broke, which was not exactly a good memory, so he shook his head and watched Jongin eat instead.

“You going to eat that?” Jongin said, pointing at his untouched plate. He shook his head and slid the dish over, which Jongin was all too happy to accept.

Baekhyun perused the large menu displayed at the counter, opting for a smaller meal. “Do they have cheesecakes here?”

“They have this oreo-flavored cheesecake topped with white chocolate that I’m sure you’re going to love,” said Amber, who appeared with Joohyuk at her side, surprising the two. “Shove over,” she said to Baekhyun, who was still too stupefied to move so she just forced her way over. Joohyuk, sliding in next to an embarrassed Jongin, offered him a grin. “You should have one.”

“You guys,” Baekhyun said lamely. “What are you doing here?”

“How mean,” Amber deadpanned. She then turned to Jongin, offering him one of her tight-lipped smiles. “Hi! We’ve never met before, have we?”

Jongin hummed a little too enthusiastically. “I’m Jongin. You must be Amber.”

“The one and only.” She chortled. She looked like a llama when she did so, Jongin thought. “You told him about me? How sweet,” she said to Baekhyun.

“Actually—”

“And I’m Joohyuk, Baekhyun’s most good-looking boyfriend,” Joohyuk said, winking. Baekhyun gagged. “They call me ‘Unambiguously the Hottest’.”

“Oh, you’re that one,” Jongin said in a low voice.

Joohyuk shot him a look, then to Baekhyun. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing,” Baekhyun spoke up hastily. “Why are you guys here?” he repeated.

“For the same reason you’re here,” Amber said, holding up a menu. “Breakfast.” She said it as if she was purposely riling Baekhyun up. Unbelievable.

Amber was sitting so close to him that if only she had long hair, it would be tickling him right in the face. She’d had it cut off a long time ago, however, shortly after meeting him. Baekhyun remembered her saying that the reason she cut it short was because she was leaving her past self behind. He didn’t know whether to feel bad or proud for her in making that decision.

“So, how’s the fairy tale going?” she asked, flipping her menu open. “Already got a plan?”

Baekhyun tore his gaze from her and took a sip of his drink. “Yes. But I’m not sure if it’ll work,” he said uncertainly.

“It always works. It’s you we’re talking about,” Joohyuk said confidently. “You’re the best Villain out there.”

“Not in the Downworld, it doesn’t,” Baekhyun retorted. “If this had been back in Talaius . . .”

“You can what? Send some magical vultures to poke the Prince’s eyes out? Boring.”

Baekhyun looked more depressed. “Already did that, but with a chicken,” he said. “It was scripted, though.”

Amber’s ears perked up, the topic seemingly catching her interest. “I really don’t understand how these fairytales work,” she said, putting her menu down. “Is it usually scripted? Like, is the Prince’s and Princess’s _blossoming love_ planned beforehand? Or is it just the Villain who has a script?”

“It actually depends on the portal,” Baekhyun answered. “For Villains, if we enter the Circle or Triangle portal, we get scripts. The Box fairy tales are usually spontaneous, but we are told how the fairy tale should end. We just need to find a way to make it happen. As for the Star portal . . . I’m not sure. This is the first time I’ve entered it.”

They all turned to Joohyuk then, inquiring an answer. Joohyuk seemed to be startled, but cleared his throat immediately. “Well, speaking from experience, Princes only have one portal,” he said. “I guess we’re just supposed to react to whatever the Villain has planned.”

“Well, how do you know if someone is your . . . one true love? Is that what you call it?” Amber questioned. “Is it all just like, ‘oh, she’s pretty, she must be my princess’?”

“Ah, I think that’s true for some cases. Some Princes never got to meet their Princess beforehand, so they just wing it, see whoever’s the closest to a Princess. But in my case, Sungkyung and I were childhood friends before we even got to the School, so when I entered the portal and saw her there, I just _knew_ ,” Joohyuk explained with a fond smile that almost made Baekhyun spill his coffee on him.

“How’s that? You knew that she’s your Princess so you pursued her, or is it that you really were in love with her?” said Jongin.

Joohyuk chuckled. “I knew I loved her before that fairy tale, but I thought that I shouldn’t push it because if I finally get dispatched to my own fairy tale and she’s not the one, we’ll just hurt ourselves more,” he said, sighing ruefully. “But it turned out that we really were meant for each other. It was like a dream come true.”

Amber faked a cough. “I’m not ordering a cheesecake anymore,” she said. “There was already too much cheese on that statement. I think I’m going to fart.”

They ignored her. Baekhyun held his empty cup with both his hands, staring at space, seemingly in deep thought as the other three continued to chat animatedly. _If Princes don’t know who their designated Princesses are_ , he thought, _then how would they know their one true love for sure?_ It was easy to make mistakes in situations like these. It was no use asking Joohyuk, who practically had his Princess staring right at his face. Not all Princesses are pretty either, so that can’t be the case. _Then what is it?_

_What makes Princesses so special?_

“Is there something on my face?” Jongin said worriedly. Baekhyun blinked, realizing that he’d been staring at Jongin the whole time.

Baekhyun shook his head. “No,” he said. “I was just thinking about . . . things.”

“What things?”

Baekhyun blinked. “Fairy tales, for one.”

“Oh, about that,” Joohyuk said, leaning closer. “I’ll just let you know that I’m always here to help if you need it.”

“That’s sweet. I’ll keep that in mind,” Baekhyun said, smirking.

Amber interjected. “That’s right, Baek. If you’re in trouble, always remember that you have a terrifying older brother to protect you.”

Baekhyun stared at her. “I do _not_ have a terrifying older brother,” he said.

Amber raised a brow. “That’s true,” she said, turning to the two guys in front of them. “You have two.”

“I’m not a child,” Baekhyun sulked. “I can handle myself just fine.”

“Well, between the four of us, you practically are.”

Baekhyun sat up indignantly. “Jongin and I are the same age!”

At that, Jongin raised a hand. “I’m older by a month.”

“Still!”

“Still not. Sit down, grasshopper,” Amber said in a playfully authoritative voice. She was obviously enjoying this. Baekhyun wanted to kick her. “Now, Baekhyun _dongsaeng_ , go ask our lovely _oppa_ s to get you your cheesecake, hm?”

Baekhyun scowled, catching up on the Korean words. “Like hell I would.”

“Ah, forget it. Let’s just get him the damn cheesecake,” Joohyuk said, standing up, but his words had no heat in them. He urged Jongin to follow him. “You know how children are.”

Jongin and Amber laughed out loud. Baekhyun looked as if he was about to flip the table.

“I never should have let you guys meet,” he mumbled.

 

Yixing’s party didn’t start until night, so with a whole day to kill, Baekhyun went back to his apartment to prepare. Amber and Joohyuk left immediately after breakfast and Jongin announced his plans to sleep in until then. Baekhyun would have slept in, too, but the threat of having those nightmares again without anyone to ease him was not a risk he could take.

He _was_ exhausted, however. They had stayed up late and woken up too early, and the party was calling for another sleepless night. The caffeine was keeping him up for now, but he wasn’t sure for how long until it would diminish. He considered not going to the party altogether, but the impulse to go and the feeling of something big happening was not something he could ignore.

Baekhyun was about to enter the apartment complex when he noticed a black Maserati parked in one of the spots near the entrance. His heart started to beat faster. This was a cheap apartment complex so there shouldn’t be an affluent person here, and so far in his years of living in the neighborhood, he only knew one person who could own a Maserati. He could only hope that his assumption was wrong.

He was right.

Even from the elevator he could already tell Chanyeol’s figure leaning on the wall beside his apartment door, clearly waiting for someone. Unlike his usual suit, the Prince was for once wearing casual clothes—a plain white shirt, perfectly showcasing his broad shoulders and lean body, tucked inside black pants with dark blue ribboned loafers to complete the look. His hair was messily styled to look like a comma, as opposed to the slicked back hair he had always sported.

The elevator doors almost closed on Baekhyun, making him realize he’d been staring at the Prince for far too long. He internally berated himself before finally walking towards his _apartment_. Not Chanyeol. Definitely not Chanyeol.

As if sensing his presence from ten feet away, Chanyeol looked up at him and smiled. “Hey, Baek.”

Baekhyun almost tripped. He hadn’t heard his voice in person since forever. It also didn’t help that Chanyeol was basically staring at him like Baekhyun had just saved his life. _Give me a break_.

When it became clear that Baekhyun wasn’t going to reply, Chanyeol continued. “Where have you been?”

“The café. Breakfast,” Baekhyun answered as he unlocked the door. He went in, Chanyeol following suit. Baekhyun frowned, but the Prince rudely answered him with another smile. He shook his head as he closed the door, rolling his eyes at Chanyeol’s antics.

Upon reaching the living room, he saw Chanyeol trying to woo Mongryong, crouched down to the critter’s level, whistling and asking it stupid questions. _What’s your name?_ Baekhyun swore he heard Mongryong growl, though. He laughed quietly. _That’s my boy._

He padded towards the sofa, sighing in content as his back hit the soft cushion. He watched Chanyeol try (and fail) to get Mongryong to come to him before finally calling him. “Chanyeol.”

The said man turned his head to look at him. “What?”

“Why are you here?”

Chanyeol stood up, ridding himself of imaginary dust. “Nothing,” he said. “I just really wanted to see you.”

“Well, now—”

“I saw you, yes, but I’m not going to leave yet,” Chanyeol interjected. He gave up on Mongryong and proceeded to sit beside Baekhyun. “I want to spend the day with you.”

Baekhyun would like to believe that he didn’t flush from the Prince’s words. Fortunately, Chanyeol didn’t seem to notice. “For a CEO, you have a lot of free time,” he remarked.

“I finished work yesterday, so I’m all yours now.”

Avoiding his gaze, Baekhyun pursed his lips. “I have somewhere else to go to.”

Chanyeol examined Baekhyun’s clothes. “In your pajamas?”

“No,” Baekhyun said cuttingly, shooting him a look. Jongin and he had forgone changing clothes because they were both too lazy to do so. If only he had known that he would be coming back with Chanyeol right in front of his doorstep, he would have told Jongin that it was a bad idea.

“Then what?”

“A party. Yixing’s organizing one,” Baekhyun answered sluggishly. Mongryong was pawing at his legs, asking to be carried. “You know, the kind of party students attend just before graduating.”

“Yixing? Son of the Zhangs?” Chanyeol enquired. Baekhyun gave a reluctant nod as he leaned down to pick the dog up. “I can take you there.”

“No way,” Baekhyun shot. “They already think you’re my sugar daddy.”

Chanyeol couldn’t help but grin. “So you’ve finally heard,” he said. Baekhyun was tempted to throw Mongryong at his face. “From brother to sugar daddy. To be honest, I’m really pleased with how much our relationship has developed.”

“Amazing, right?” Baekhyun said sarcastically. “Can’t say I feel the same.”

Chanyeol got quiet for a second. “If I’m your sugar daddy . . .”

“Chanyeol. _No_.”

“Then you’re my—”

“I SWEAR TO GOD—”

“—baby?” Chanyeol teased. “Baby Baek.”

“I’m going to _murder_ you,” Baekhyun said, irritated, and at the same time Mongryong snarled. He stood up at the same time Chanyeol ran, laughing in amusement, with Mongryong tailing him. The Prince went towards the kitchen, which was not a very good idea since he just got himself trapped, but Princes were never really known for being clever.

When he reached the kitchen, Chanyeol was already leaning at the edge of the sink, seemingly calm despite Mongryong aggressively tugging and biting his pants. He looked like he was waiting for Baekhyun to reach him. _Stupid Prince_ , Baekhyun thought. He grabbed a pan and started lightly bashing Chanyeol’s head with it. Below them, Mongryong yapped, as if it was cheering for its owner.

“Ow! Okay, Baek—” Chanyeol started, but was immediately stopped by a whack on the arm. He let the other hit him for a few more times before finally retaliating.

Just as Baekhyun was about to score another blow, Chanyeol caught his wrist and twisted it for him to drop the pan but not enough to hurt him. The pan fell to the ground, scaring the small Mongryong who immediately ran out of the kitchen. However, neither of the two seemed to hear it, as Chanyeol had Baekhyun cornered with his body, chests touching, his hands on the edge of the sink behind Baekhyun.

It was safe to say that Baekhyun was actually the one who got himself trapped.

As if by nature, Chanyeol leaned towards him. They were staring at each other’s eyes, drowning as if each one was an ocean, gazing like each orb contained the universe. Baekhyun wanted to pull away, say it was wrong, but he even found it hard to breathe when Chanyeol put a hand on the small on his back, pulling him impossibly closer.

“I’m sorry. If you don’t like what I’m about to do, just push me away.”

Before Baekhyun could even process the words, Chanyeol was already all over him, hugging him. He tried to put a hand between them, some space, but he couldn’t get himself to put force when Chanyeol buried his face in Baekhyun’s hair, kissing it.

 _Ah, this is so cruel_ , Baekhyun thought. _How can I push him away if he’s being like this?_

After contemplation, he decided to let himself stay in the warmth of Chanyeol’s embrace. It was better than any blanket, or any other hug. There was a comfortable feeling in his chest, stemming from the heat that Chanyeol’s body was providing him, nostalgia suddenly running through his veins. Somehow, Chanyeol reminded him of _home_.

Chanyeol released him after what seemed like forever, but did not move away. “I’m coming with you to that party.”

Baekhyun’s eyes widened. “No, you’re not!”

“Why?” the Prince demanded.

“It’s a pre-graduation party, Chanyeol. Having one of the most wanted bachelors in the country attend a party full of highschoolers isn’t exactly a good idea,” Baekhyun said patiently. He was already aware of Chanyeol’s reputation. He wasn’t about to risk himself having another scandal with the man.

However, Chanyeol didn’t seem to agree. “I’ll wear a mask.”

“Chanyeol—”

“Look, Baek,” Chanyeol started in clear frustration, “I worked my ass off the past week just to get this much time to spend with you, so hell, Princess. Even if you don’t want me here—and I know you do—I’m not leaving.”

 _He really is a Prince_ , Baekhyun thought. _Too stubborn to be not one_. He sighed and turned away, hiding a smile. “Such a stubborn mule.”

“Besides, who knows what might happen. I need to be there to protect you,” Chanyeol added.

“OH MY GOD.” Baekhyun finally snapped, having been reminded of Joohyuk. _Why is everybody so obsessed with protection?_ “Stop right there. I am not having this conversation with you.”

“Why not?”

Baekhyun groaned loudly and pushed him away, effectively this time. “I’ve said this once, and I’ll say it again,” he said sharply. “ _I am not a damsel in distress_.”

“And I know you’re not,” Chanyeol said straightaway. “I just want to do it, that’s all.”

“Jesus, I’m too tired for this,” Baekhyun muttered, badly wanting to go to his bedroom and get the nap he wanted. He settled on the sofa instead.

“Sleep, then,” the Prince said, sitting beside him.

“Can’t. I have to go to a party, remember?”

Chanyeol thought for a moment. “What time is the party?”

Baekhyun glanced at the clock. “Around six, I think.”

“All right,” Chanyeol said, tapping his lap. “I’ll wake you up.”

Baekhyun looked at him as if he had grown another head. “Are you kidding me?”

“Nope.”

“I can’t sleep while you’re here!”

Chanyeol looked confused. “Why’s that?”

“Well, who knows what you might do,” Baekhyun replied lamely.

Chanyeol stared at him for a moment, gaping, then composed himself quickly. “I’m not going to do anything indecent to you if that’s what you’re thinking,” he said, amused. “I’m not that kind of person.”

He was sincere, Baekhyun could see that. Decades of interacting with people made him learn how to distinguish the line between honesty and dishonesty, and he knew that Chanyeol, even with all his stalker-like tendencies, could never do that. He didn’t want to trust the man, but it seemed like Chanyeol just knew how to make his way through things.

Baekhyun rolled his eyes and laid his head on Chanyeol’s lap.

Above him, Chanyeol laughed.

“What are you laughing at?” He meant to say it angrily, but he was too tired for that now.

Chanyeol’s laugh reduced to a smile. “Nothing. It’s just that . . .”

“What?” he said impatiently.

“You’re such a . . . what do they call it in Japan? _Tsundere_?”

Baekhyun pinched his thigh in retaliation. “Shut up, I’m sleeping.”

“Okay, okay.”

“No funny business, Mr. Park.”

Chanyeol chuckled once again. “Anything for you, _baby_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this will be my last update for now. ;---;  
> the next time i'll get to update is december, i think.  
> welp, see you guys until then.  
> oh and by the way: please do comment your theories! :D


	9. Dead Man's Party

The directions on the website took them to a sumptuous neighborhood whose streets were lined with plants and lampposts. There was not much to see. The houses were considerably far away from each other, residents seemingly prefering not to engage in social acquaintance with their neighbors, though it was probably a ‘rich people’ thing. There’s a thrift shop two blocks away from the gate, Baekhyun noted, where he could pass by after the party. It’s a little rundown, but then again, so was his life.

He leaned forward and squinted at the road ahead of him. He frowns at how the dark windshield tint of the car was making it harder for him to distinguish shit through the night. Baekhyun didn’t know what happened, but Chanyeol managed to convince him of being his ride to the party. It was almost as if he was in a trance, only gaining his consciousness back when Chanyeol was already hitting the road and blasting a certain _Blink-182_ song through the multimedia player.

“Remind me again why I agreed to let you take me?” Baekhyun said monotonously over the music. He was getting tired of looking outside the window and decided to talk instead.

“Because I’m handsome, that’s why,” Chanyeol replied cheekily, expecting the brunet to roll his eyes of make a sarcastic remark.

The Prince was surprised when Baekhyun did neither of those things. Instead, he replied, “Yeah, whatever.”

“Baek, are you admitting that I’m attractive right now?” Chanyeol asked.

“Hm—what?” Baekhyun blinked.

“You said I’m handsome.”

Baekhyun felt his heart skip a beat. “…No, I didn’t.”

“Yes, you did.”

“What did I say exactly?”

“’Yeah, whatever,’” Chanyeol said in his most Baekhyun-ish voice.

Baekhyun sat up indignantly, but leaned back again because of the seatbelt. “ _How_ is that equal to saying you’re handsome?”

“Because I said I am, and you agreed.”

Baekhyun sighed in relief. He actually thought for a moment that he might have made the most embarrassing mistake in his life by admitting it out loud. He shook his head and leaned on the door. “You’re hearing things.”

“I’m perfectly—“

“Just drive, Chanyeol.”

Chanyeol smirked at Baekhyun’s sudden indifference. “All right, my in denial princess.”

Baekhyun didn’t look amused. “Chanyeol, for the record, I did not say you were handsome.”

“Sure.”

“I _do not_ think you’re handsome, Chanyeol. Stop being so cheeky.”

“ _Sure_ , Baek.”

Baekhyun rolled his eyes. “Shut _up_.” He took his phone out of his pocket and started dialing. “Jace, come on,” he muttered. Chanyeol could hear slight buzzing on the other end. “Where are you? Are you done already? Jace, don’t tell me you just woke up or else—ah, you’re pissing me off! GET GOING.”

He clicked off and irritably shoved the phone into one of his pockets as they pulled up to a curb. Ignoring Chanyeol completely, Baekhyun got out of the car.

“Wow,” was the first thing he said when he looked up. The mansion was huge and modernized. Beyond the black gates were the crowd, neon lights flashing from the windows like colorful police sirens. It was a quiet neighborhood, so the music sounded like thunder that made Baekhyun’s ears hurt, but it wasn’t as if he had never gone to a party with teenagers before.

Chanyeol hurried to catch up with Baekhyun, who regretted touching the gate in order to get into the garden. Something was dripping from the metal railings.

“Here,” he said, offering Baekhyun corner of his shirt to wipe his hand on. Baekhyun did. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know. I just realized that I don’t really have a reason to be here. Kyungsoo, maybe, but I can’t find him.”

“Maybe because you’re both—” _short_. “I mean, you haven’t entered the house yet.”

Baekhyun looked uncertain. He kept glancing at someplace in the garden, but Chanyeol couldn’t decipher where exactly.

The brunet started walking through the crowd. Laughter rang through the room, along with a cloud of jumbled words that Baekhyun couldn’t make out. Multiple girls were grinding and dancing with their shirts off. Chanyeol, although already feeling like a loyal (or pathetic) dog, trailed after him, putting a hand on the latter’s waist to keep him from getting lost. Baekhyun didn’t scream bloody harassment, much to his satisfaction.

They find Yixing standing awkwardly against one of the pillars, looking out of place in his own party. His eyes shifted from one dancing body to another, lips pressed into a thin line. It didn’t seem like he was with anyone.

“Hey, Xing,” Baekhyun greeted, hopefully not awkwardly.

Yixing looked up, eyes wide. He seemed surprised that someone was actually talking to him. “Oh, Baekhyun.”

“Nice party. We’re totally enjoying ourselves. Wow,” Baekhyun said, ignoring Chanyeol’s snort. “You alone?”

“I guess… It kinda sucks to be alone in my own party,” said Yixing. “They just came for the booze, I guess.” Yixing was the sort of person who guesses a lot.

Baekhyun tried to smile. “Is there an occasion?”

“An occasion… no, no, no occasion,” Yixing slurred. He unhitched himself from the pillar and took a clumsy step back. “My friend… he said it would be a nice change if I tried to… loosen up a bit…”

Baekhyun was spared the necessity of replying by the appearance of Jongin, who looked like he had foregone showering and went straight to the party after waking up. “Where’s Kyungsoo?” Baekhyun said.

“Dance floor.” Jongin pointed. He turned to Chanyeol, eyeing him for a moment, before looking down at Chanyeol’s hand on Baekhyun’s waist. Jongin’s heart dropped, but he forced a smirk. “Getting chummy with each other already?”

Baekhyun hastily removed the hand on his waist. Ignoring Chanyeol’s disappointed look, he saw Kyungsoo in the middle of the packed square of bodies, talking animatedly with a group of semi-naked girls. The boy donned light makeup, despite putting emphasis on the eyeliner. He was sporting super tight jeans and a shirt stylishly ripped on the shoulders with the words “No Regrets” printed on it. Baekhyun sighed. _If this continues, he might end up dancing on a pole as well_.

“Is that guy even planning to ever get married?” he mused.

Jongin glanced at Chanyeol. “Well, yeah, if you’re gonna count his obsession with this guy.” He pointed his thumb at the Prince.

Chanyeol’s lips quirked. “If that happens, do me a favor and kill me.”

Baekhyun rolled his eyes and focused on his friend. _Should I or should I not leave him be? That is the question._

“Stay here,” he told the two, who both looked like they were about to refute. “I need to—“

Suddenly, a familiar fresh-faced boy came into view. He started a casual conversation with Kyungsoo, who laughed at something he said. There was a certain aura around him, intimidating, like someone who could walk into the party and ruin your whole life in the process, despite his sweet look that Baekhyun knew very well. It had been years, decades even, but Baekhyun could still remember him like yesterday.

“Baek?” Jongin called. “You were saying?”

“Luhan?” he murmured. He started worming his way through the crowd towards them, turning deaf to Jongin’s shriek. His eyes never left the two.

Until a hand abruptly pulled him back. “Where are you going?” Jongin said. “That guy was _so_ ready to kill you—”

Baekhyun turned his head. Kyungsoo and Luhan were gone. He sighed.

“I—” he started. “Wait, where’s Chanyeol?”

“Flirting with a girl somewhere.” Baekhyun glared at Jongin, who laughed nervously. “What? I’m kidding. I asked him to get us drinks.”

The Villain exhaled and muttered something incoherent. After trying to locate Kyungsoo and Luhan one last time and failing, he pulled Jongin to a corner near the bathroom. He was about to open his mouth when they heard faint moaning ang kissing sounds beside them.

Jongin squirmed in his hold uneasily. “Couldn’t you have chosen a better place?” he said, trying his best to ignore the sounds the couple was making.

“Never mind that.” Baekhyun breathed deeply. “I saw Luhan.”

This seemed to catch Jongin’s attention. “Oh, the vampire ex-boyfriend?”

“The vampire ex-boyfriend,” Baekhyun confirmed.

“What, are you going to say that you still love him after all these years?” Jongin said, tiredly. “Baek, you know I’m all for your happiness, but that doll-face said he likes vaginas—which, quite frankly, you don’t have—”

Baekhyun shushed him. “That’s not the point! The point is, why is there a vampire in a mundane high school party?”

“Oh,” said Jongin. “ _Oh_.”

“That’s not all. Earlier, at the gate, I saw a couple of vampire motorcycles parked beside the garbage bins. I thought I was imagining it, but the gate is literally dripping with what I think is chilled blood mixed with alcohol.”

Jongin sighed. “Assuming what you’re saying is true, what are we gonna do about it? Evacuate them then say what? ‘Excuse me, but the person you were about to have sex with may or may not have been a bloodsucker’?”

“No, we’re not going to be party poopers. That’s lame,” Baekhyun said. “Besides, I don’t think they’re here to feed on the mundanes. If they do, they’ll risk being noticed. Not only are they exposing themselves, but they’re also breaking the Covenant. It’s going to be a problem.”

“Then what?”

“Look,” he started. “This is a pre-grad party, right? But I’ve never seen Luhan anywhere around the campus.”

Jongin lightly gasped. “So what you’re saying is…”

Baekhyun nodded. “Yixing might not be what we think he is.”

 

“Is that what I think it is?”

Joohyuk glanced at her. “Well, _what_ do you think it is?”

Amber hopped off from the table she was previously sitting on and walked over to where Joohyuk was standing. “It’s Baekhyun’s painting,” she said. “It’s his style.”

“His style is his signature, so he says,” said Joohyuk, grabbing the wooden frame and hanging it on the wall at face-level. It was a painting of a prince no older than ten, Baekhyun’s style perfectly capturing the boy’s nobility as well as the image of his youth. His eyes contained different stories—one of innocence, another of hurt and sorrow. The colors are calm and composed, its texture dotted like a mosaic—completely ethereal. “Like Édouard Manet, but not quite.”

“I don’t even know who the hell that is, but I get your point,” Amber said. She puts a hand up his face as he was about to open his mouth, probably to explain who the fuck Édouard Manet is, but Amber really couldn’t care any less. “He gave this to you?”

“No. Someone else did,” Joohyuk answered, playing with the towel he was holding. “Said his name was Shoeman or something of the sort.”

“Xiumin,” Amber corrected, immediately catching up. “And why does he have this painting?”

Joohyuk shrugged. “No idea. All he said was that it’s a goodbye gift. For Baekhyun.”

“Uh, goodbye gift?” Amber looked perplexed. “What does he mean by that?”

“Like I said, no idea.” He threw the towel away and neared towards his workstation. Amber frowned at the action. “Maybe Shoeman’s dying.”

“Xiumin,” Amber repeated, watching Joohyuk as he proceeded to sit on his chair and type away on his computer. “Call him Minseok if that’s any easier to pronounce. Anyway, why would he be giving Baekhyun his _own_ painting as a goodbye gift if he’s the one dying? That’s just absurd.”

Joohyuk blinked. “Maybe Baekhyun’s dying,” he said, then immediately covered his mouth, like a kid who just said a foul word.

“Don’t be stupid,” Amber hissed. “Why would he die?”

Joohyuk pursed his lips. “Because of the star portal…?”

The room suddenly went silent.

“Maybe Shoeman’s just a really terrible joker,” Joohyuk muttered.

“He is. And will you stop with the Shoeman thing? You’re annoying me,” said Amber, who made herself comfortable by sitting on top of his desk. “Wait, doesn’t Baekhyun title his paintings as a joke?”

“He does—hey, don’t sit on my things. Those are art commissions,” Joohyuk said, pulling at the papers that Amber was sitting on. She rolled her eyes and jumped off.

“What did he title that one?” she asked, pointing at the painting.

“Fresh Prince of Denmark Yo Holla.”

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me,” Joohyuk said without looking up. “He painted it after we watched a Hamlet play at the townsquare, even though the subject is in no way connected to the piece.”

“Huh,” Amber said, grinning. “That’s so… Baekhyun.” She touched the back of her neck, where the hairline ends—a habit she’s grown accustomed of ever since she’d cut her hair. They’d always put different kinds of jewels on it. Most of the times they’d braid her long hair and wrap it with a diamond chain ornament or anything shiny, then she’d remember hating it so much to the point of wanting to get bald. She doesn’t remember how it feels now, though, for it had been such a long time ago.

After a while, Joohyuk closed his laptop and stood up. “Help me close up.” He arranged his desk hurriedly, wanting to just get the job done. She quietly watched him topple things over with his inept attempt at organizing.

“You’re so messy. I wonder how Sungkyung fell in love with you.” Amber snorted as she picked up the dirty towel he threw earlier. “What did you put in her drink?”

He stared at her indignantly. “I DID NOTHING OF THE SORT,” he said and continued packing up, was moving in an increasing urgency. “She just has really good taste in men.”

“Or really blind,” Amber said offhandedly. “Either way a terrible fate.”

“Shut up. You like me.”

“Do you _want_ me to choke you with this towel?”

“Is this Fifty Shades?”

“I’m calling Sungkyung.”

 

“Hello?” Baekhyun called. “Are you still listening?”

Jongin blinked. “Oh. Yes,” he said. “What was that about hamburgers?”

“I said nothing about hamburgers,” Baekhyun deadpanned, “except that I’m going to turn you into one if you keep on zoning out on me.”

“That’s because you keep repeating the same things over and over again. I know the drill already,” Jongin whined. “Now, where’s Chanyeol? I want my drink.”

Seconds later, the said male appeared, holding two cups as he craned his neck trying to find the two. “There you guys are,” Chanyeol said, a bit breathlessly, as soon as he found them. He sounded quite relieved. “I’ve been searching for you for like half an hour.”

Jongin smiled and grabbed a cup from Chanyeol’s hand. “Thanks, dude.”

Before Jongin could stall any longer, Baekhyun rolled his eyes and pushed the tanned male’s face away, taking Chanyeol’s hand. The Prince seemed surprised at the action. “Scram, you miserable fool.”

Chuckling, Jongin held up his cup at the two and cheerily gulped the drink down as he disappeared from their sight. Baekhyun genuinely wondered if he was already drunk, which wasn’t entirely possible since the Silverwoods always kept liquor in their basement. It was one of the reasons why he liked hanging out at their house sometimes.

“Where is he going?” Chanyeol asked after a moment of silence.

“Somewhere to finish something,” Baekhyun replied vaguely before dragging him towards the place where they found Yixing earlier on. Chanyeol couldn’t help but smile as he stared at their linked hands, letting Baekhyun drag him easily. The Villain could practically _hear_ his grin through the mask and said, “Don’t get used to it.”

He chuckled. _Today’s my day._ “Yessir.”

“Don’t push your luck, either.”

Chanyeol smirked and said, “I don’t need it.”

“I beg to disagree.”

The Prince laughed and let the Villain lead the way, opting to stay quiet.

 “Shit,” Baekhyun said when they finally reach the place and find Yixing missing.

Chanyeol looked at him, then at the pillar. “Are you looking for Yixing? I saw him go to his bedroom while I was getting drinks.”

“Really?” Baekhyun said, turning to him. “Take me to the bedroom.”

“Wow. That’s not how I imagined you saying that,” Chanyeol said, but nevertheless complied. Meanwhile, Baekhyun accidentally choked on his spit, feeling his cheeks burn. _Stupid alcohol_ , he thought, even though he hadn’t had any alcohol yet.

They walked through the poolside, avoiding students too drunk to hold themselves up like the plague. Apparently, Yixing had his bedroom separated from the rest of his house, the pool dividing the two structures. There were unsurprisingly more people in this area than inside, though it was probably the barbeque that led them here. “Are you always letting people boss you around like this?” Baekhyun said after a while.

Squeezing his hand, Chanyeol shook his head. “No. I’m not exactly the most docile person out there.”

“Then… with Jongin, and me…?”

“I’m wooing you, remember?” Chanyeol smiled, even though Baekhyun couldn’t see it. “That includes wooing your friends as well. I want to be the perfect boyfriend, you know. I’d even woo Kyungsoo if you want, but I’m afraid he might take it the wrong way.”

Baekhyun badly wanted to slap himself for even asking. He thanked the gods that it was quite dark, else he wouldn’t be able to handle the embarrassment of being flustered by the Prince’s words.

“Oh, Baekhyun,” Yixing said when he opened the door. “You came.”

“Ah, yes. We already talked,” Baekhyun said, staring at Yixing. “Earlier.”

“Oh… really?” Yixing sounded amazed.

“Yes, and I need to talk to you again.”

Yixing furrowed his eyebrows. “Why?”

Baekhyun bit his lip. “Can we talk inside?” he said, unsure.

“Wait, Baek?” Chanyeol started—

Baekhyun rolled his eyes. “Relax. We’re not going to do anything,” he assured the Prince, before going inside. Which, he realized, was a pretty weird move. _What was that for? He’s not my boyfriend._

Yixing’s place was chic and modern: a brown wooden bed and a white mattress draped with gray blankets, four yellow scented lamps hanging on either side of the bed, and basically gray-dominated furniture. Floor-to-ceiling windows, which screamed lack of privacy from the outside world (especially since the pool was just outside), could be hidden solely by large curtains, while the floor was covered with thick wool carpet. On the bedside table were heavy, old-looking books.

“Nice room,” Baekhyun commented. Yixing gave him a lazy smile as he closed the door.

“So,” Yixing said as he sat on a couch, heading straight to business, “what’s this about?”

Baekhyun wasn’t sure what to do, so he remained standing awkwardly beside the entrance. “I have a question.”

Yixing raised an eyebrow. “Go on.”

“Do you, perhaps, know someone named Luhan?”

The dimpled boy stared at him and smiled. It wasn’t like any of his usual innocent smiles—this one made Baekhyun’s hair on his skin stand up. “So what if I do?”

That, again, was another thing very unlike Yixing. Baekhyun was starting to regret this course of action.

“You’re not human, are you?” Baekhyun dared question before he could stop himself.

“Why question something if you already have it figured out?” Yixing said blandly, sipping on his tea.

“I just wanted a confirmation.”

“Clever.” Yixing set his teacup down and licked his lips. “I’m not human, no. I’m a warlock, you see.”

It was a straightforward answer. Baekhyun let out the breath he didn’t know he was holding.

“Right. You must have known that I was a Villain all these time.”

Yixing grinned. “Yes. And a very interesting one, at that.”

Baekhyun broke out in cold sweat. “What do you mean?”

Yixing turned his eyes away from him and to the glass window. He followed the warlock’s eyes and saw Chanyeol, who was watching them intently, though the Prince tore his gaze away immediately after meeting the brunet’s. Baekhyun fought a snort. _Idiot._

“Just ignore him,” he said, catching the warlock’s attention. “Back to my question—”

“Yes, I do know Luhan,” Yixing interrupted, startling the Villain. “Quite the vampire if you ask me.”

“Is he the friend you were talking about?”

“Yes. Yes he was,” Yixing said. “What is this, ex-boyfriend complex?”

Baekhyun blinked. “How did you know that?”

“Ah, your kind. They always have the most number of questions,” Yixing said and started sipping on his tea again. “Always the sentimentals, too.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I’m not in love with him if that’s what you’re thinking.”

Yixing shrugged. “I never said you were.”

Baekhyun groaned. _Why is everyone like this to me?_

“Why invite vampires in a party full of humans?”

It was Yixing’s turn to glare. “I didn’t invite them. They just came crashing in. Apparently, that skunk Luhan thought he had the right to invite people to my house just because he was the one who suggested this whole idea of me throwing a party in high school—which, I realized, was a very stupid idea.”

“Oh,” was all Baekhyun could say.

“Is that all?” Yixing said, leaning back on the couch.

“One last thing.”

“Oh?”

Baekhyun crossed his arms. “How old are you?”

The warlock stared at him dumbfounded for a split-second before regaining his composure. “Do you want me to kick you out of here? That is a very rude question to ask a warlock.”

“My previous warlock boyfriends didn’t mind.”

“I’m not one of your loverboys,” Yixing said, and sighed. Finishing his cup, he stood up. “But I actually liked you, so I’ll let it pass. Do you want some tea?”

“Um, sure?” Baekhyun said, rather unsurely.

The warlock opened one of his cabinets and grabbed a dark green can. His eyes gleamed at the sight, seemingly more olive-like in color than black. “Your boyfriend is waiting, so I’ll give you this instead,” he said, and gave Baekhyun the can of tea. “It’s Darjeeling.”

“Oh, thanks.”

There was silence, then, at the same time, the two turned their gaze towards the window.

Chanyeol looked away once again.

“Your boyfriend is quite endearing,” Yixing remarked. “Getting protective and all that.”

Baekhyun turned his glare at Yixing. “He’s not my boyfriend,” he said.

“Just the sugar daddy?”

“I don’t have a sugar daddy.”

“Then who’s he?”

He quirked his lips. “My… brother.”

Yixing looked unfazed. “Huh,” he said, and nothing else.

Baekhyun decided that he didn’t like that tone. Not at all. 

 

 _I can’t fucking see shit_ , Jongin thought.

It was already nearing midnight and at some point in that time span, he thought it would be a good idea to hide behind the garbage bins. Why exactly, he didn’t know. If he could go back in time, he would actually very much like to give the earlier-Jongin some good beating. Garbage bins are always a bad idea.

There was no turning back now. The area was empty before, but by the time he finished squeezing his way into the garbage bins a couple of vampires started to evacuate the house and hang out by their motorcycles. Just his luck.

“Damn it,” he muttered. “Can’t see shit, can fucking smell shit, is probably already smelling like shit. What a—”

His internal monologue was cut off by a sudden voice. _“You catching a ride?”_

 _“Yes, please. Jongin’s probably at home worrying about me already,”_ a voice replied. Jongin leaned over to hear the conversation better.

 _“Well, hop on,”_ the first voice said. Then, a minute later, it shrieked. _“Fuck! My motorcycle broke!”_

_“What happened?”_

_“Someone poured holy water on the gas tank. Fucking asshole.”_

“Hey there, sweetums.”

Suddenly, he felt a hit at the back of his head, which in turn caused his forehead to hit the edge of the metal bin. Blood oozed from the wound to his nose. He tried to move his hands and legs, but to no avail. Slowly, his eyes closed.

He remembered why he hid behind the garbage bins.

The last thing he saw was Luhan’s face before everything faded into black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok so sorry for whatever bullshit i wrote on here i was half-drunk when i wrote this FML (i'm fuccking demolished rn help)  
> i don't think i'll be able to update soon after this. i estimate it'll be another few months before i do, but i promise i'll make it worthwhile! i'll try my best to put chanbaek moments as much as possible for you guys. :> (bc i love uuuu)  
> and please do comment! they make my day and really inspire me to write more.  
> btw, hope you guys had a merry christmas!! and happy new year!!!  
> p.s. should i or should i not join BAE2018  
> p.p.s. will edit this when i'm sober. bye


	10. An Old Friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jongin is missing. Baekhyun is in denial. Yixing is a smart piece of shit.

Baekhyun couldn’t help but feel like his visit to Yixing was a bit foolish and pointless. Their conversation was short and cryptic, comprised of nothing but obvious and offhanded replies. It provided him more questions than answers, and the warlock didn’t look like he was going to answer any of them either. It was depressing.

The only thing that’s preventing him from leaving the room was sheer pettiness. Baekhyun wanted to see for how long would Chanyeol be willing to wait for him until the Prince gives up and leaves. The plan wasn’t providing clear results so far. Chanyeol was still standing outside the room, and although he certainly didn’t look amused with what Baekhyun was doing, it was crystal clear that he was not going to leave anytime soon.

Baekhyun raised a hand and made lazy shooing gestures. _Go home, idiot._

Chanyeol stared at the Villain unfazed, slowly shaking his head.

“This is amusing,” Yixing said.

Baekhyun broke eye contact and turned to the grinning warlock. “Glad to know you find us funny.”

“Incorrect. I find _you_ amusing,” the warlock replied, finishing another cup of tea. In this angle, Baekhyun finally noticed the weight of the warlock’s age—the way he spoke, the way he moved, it all made sense. “How long you are planning to make yourself comfortable in my chamber?”

Baekhyun flushed. “Sorry. Have I overstayed my welcome?”

“Not really. You’re not welcome here.” Yixing clicked his fingers and the curtains closed, finally hiding Chanyeol from their sight. “Not in my room, at least.”

“Fine. I’m leaving, leaving, gone,” said Baekhyun. He waved a hand and turned the doorknob, preparing to go. “Thanks for the tea.”

“Sure.”

“By the way,” Baekhyun said, stopping midway. “How did you know my real name?”

Yixing looked like he was about to turn him into a bat. “Go away, Byun.”

“What did you talk about?” Chanyeol said as soon as he closed the door. The Prince looked genuinely curious, but not prying. It was like he was just asking Baekhyun how his day went, or if he had eaten already. Baekhyun appreciated it.

“Nothing important, really,” answered Baekhyun, and it was the truth.

Chanyeol nodded in understanding. “It’s past midnight. Should I take you home?”

“Yeah.”

Chanyeol brightened up like a kid. Baekhyun almost laughed. Almost.

They passed through the swimming pool area. The number of people wasn’t dimming—if anything, it looked like there were more people coming in since the party started. When they got back inside the mansion, the crowd had been too dense that Chanyeol had to hold his hand and put another hand at the bottom of his spine to lead him.

“You’ve been feeling me up way too much tonight, Mr. Park,” Baekhyun said against the music, although without heat.

He felt Chanyeol laugh beside him. “I’ve been taking my chances.”

They got out of the sea of people and were just passing by the garden when Baekhyun remembered Jongin. He looked around, but the Villain was not in sight. There was a commotion in the area where the vampire motorcycles were parked, and Baekhyun knew that Jongin had done his job. He took his phone out and started dialling.

The call rang three times before going straight to voicemail. _“Hey, this is Jace. I’m probably sleeping at the moment, so just leave a message or call me again after a day or two. Thanks.”_

Baekhyun called the number a few more times before realizing that Jongin’s phone has been turned off. He cursed silently.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Chanyeol asked him. He had opened his car’s door for Baekhyun, but the brunette made no move to get in. “Is it Jace?”

“Yeah. I can’t reach him.” Baekhyun stared at his phone, eyebrows furrowed.

“Maybe he went home already?” Chanyeol suggested.

“Without me? I don’t think so.”

Chanyeol was silent for a moment, then pushed Baekhyun towards the shotgun seat. “Get in. I’ll look for him.”

The door was shut before he could protest. Baekhyun puffed his cheeks in annoyance. “Why is he so bossy? Is he the King? Jeez.”

Despite this, he couldn’t find it in himself to get angry at Chanyeol. The Prince had been making it so hard for him to do so lately. His thoughts drifted back to Chanyeol’s words. _I’m wooing you, remember?_

“Oh, no, no, no. Fuck you,” he muttered, shaking his head off of it. He was blushing furiously and he knew it. “Fucking prick. Who does he think he is?”

Baekhyun got out of the car, slamming the door angrily. He felt a smile coming and turned it into a grimace instead, kicking the car’s wheel to express his displeasure. “He can go die,” he said, and left to find Jongin on his own.

 

Jongin opened his eyes slowly. They felt heavy, weighed down. Something was fanning his face. Someone’s breath. It smelled like wine and cigarette smoke. He blinked and rubbed his eyes, his vision clearing. Someone was staring at him, face familiar but definitely not welcomed.

He knocked their heads together.

“Ow! What in the world?” It was the voice of a man. It was peachy, smooth—he’d hoped he’d never hear it again, but just his luck. The man rubbed his forehead as Jongin stared at him.

This was Luhan, Baekhyun’s boyfriend of three months, a hundred and something years ago. He had changed since— became prettier, more daring. As if he hadn’t been annoyingly daring before. He flicked the lamp next to the bed and regarded Jongin with a glare. He looked like a ghost against the lamplight— skin too pale, hair too black, lips too red. His fangs weren’t visible, and thank god, because that meant that he hadn’t fed on Jongin. Yet.

However, the fact that Jongin saw the vampire again after a century was making his blood boil, and he would have punched the man if only he was sure that his head wouldn’t kill him with a deadly hangover once he sat up. Jongin hated him.

“What am I doing here?” Jongin said immediately.

“Wow, good morning to you too.”

Jongin closed his eyes once again, praying that a headache would come later than expected. “You kidnapped me.”

“No, I didn’t. Well, yes I did, but I’ll return you, I promise.” Luhan said it like he was a toy borrowed from his owner. Jongin hated the vampire impossibly more. “But I cannot escort you home yet for the sun is nearly rising.”

“Right. . . . The burning thing,” Jongin said lowly. He reached for the bedside table, then his pockets. “My phone. Where’s my phone?”

“Oh, that old Nokia? I had it confiscated. It rang too much, my ears bled.”

“Fucking—” Jongin felt the onslaught of his hangover and groaned. His ears were buzzing. “Don’t you have pain relievers at least?”

“I am afraid I don’t,” said Luhan. “Never needed it.”

“God, just kill me.”

Luhan’s lips quirked. “Why were you hiding there alone?”

“Why? Should I have brought a date with me?” Jongin managed to say. He was surprised that he could still formulate a proper sentence.

“Funny,” Luhan said, not unkindly.

“I—I think I heard Baekhyun, he was there—” Jongin said after a moment, wincing. He suddenly felt a strong urge to smash his head with a hammer. “Was it Baekhyun? I don’t know…”

Luhan stared at him, unmoving and wordless, before hopping off from the high chair he was sitting on. His deer eyes were smoky—he slept with makeup on, Jongin guessed—and he still had the leather jacket and ripped jeans he had worn the night before. The Villain shivered in discomfort. “I bandaged your head. I had meant to knock you out, but it went a little overboard.”

“A little,” Jongin said bitingly. “Pardon me, but I must have missed the apology somewhere.”

The vampire let out a sound of amusement, crimson eyes twinkling under the artificial light. “Be grateful I got you out of there, _Villain_. Who knows what you might have ended up after the nuisance you caused. You’ve not the slightest idea how much those motorcycles are worth, even in Moonlight Markets.”

“I have my head bandaged and you in my line of sight. I don’t think ‘grateful’ is the word to describe what I’m feeling right now,” Jongin replied weakly as he attempted to sit up. “All right, what’s the deal? With you bashing my head and all.”

“For the record, I did _not_ bash your head with anything. I hit the back of your head with my bare hands. You knocked your head on the compost bins after you fainted. Quite hard, too. You nearly got me into trouble with the others when they heard the commotion. I had to tell them you were my dinner for tonight.”

Fighting the urge to roll his eyes, Jongin said, “Well, I’m utterly sorry for being out cold. Had I not been knocked out, I would have done a _much_ better job at being discreet.”

“I suppose my ex-boyfriend’s sarcasm has been rubbing off on you. You’ve never been this hostile to me before,” Luhan said, lips curled up into a smirk. Jongin involuntarily gritted his teeth at the mention of the duo’s past relationship. “Although I rather think it to be the work of jealousy…”

Jongin finally caved in and rolled his eyes. He never did like the vampire and has always hated those times when Baekhyun and Luhan were a thing. “Quit dilly-dallying. If I wanted to have some… nonsense talk I would have asked Kyungsoo,” he said, and blinked. If Baekhyun was here, the brunet would have commented on his extensive lexicon—or lack thereof. “Not that I have much of a choice.”

He watched as Luhan strode towards the bedside table and poured water into a glass. The vampire’s strides were graceful, like a butterfly—fleeting, beautiful, dangerous. It was the perfect metaphor. There was a legend, Jongin heard once during his childhood, saying that a flap of a butterfly’s wings can cause a storm, or a tornado, inciting chaos everywhere—until it lands on the most beautiful flower it sees. The butterfly will continue to suck the life out of that flower, wilting it, then goes on to search for another flower to drain.

It didn’t make sense then, but it did now. Jongin wonders if that legend—or theory—was purposely intended to sound like a euphemism for vampires. Chaos. Luhan. Does it fit?

If Luhan noticed the stare, he didn’t show it. Instead, he continued, “You were trying to corner me last night, am I not right? Here we can converse freely. Put your questions on the table and I shall answer them . . . at my convenience.”

Jongin’s eyes narrowed into slits.

 “And why should I trust a vampire like you? You told your vampire friends that you were going to feed on me, _something that is_ _against the Accords_ , and they brushed it off like it was the norm. You filthy creatures—”

“Careful there,” Luhan warned.

“It’s true.” There was an edge in Jongin’s voice. “You are cunning creatures. You think you’re better than everyone—“

“We are very cunning creatures indeed, but that does not equate to our breaking of the ancestral oath. Vampires have broken The Oath as other kinds have, only we don’t point fingers like you do.”

Jongin’s eyes lost its fire. “You mean other kinds have broken The Oath as well?”

Luhan’s smile was cryptic. “You’d be surprised.” He tilted his head, mocking. “And get off of your moral high horse, you’re not that innocent either.”

“You’re bluffing,” Jongin said.

“Oh? Should I count?” Luhan said. His voice sounded like nails scratching metal to Jongin’s ears—superior, condescending. “What was your oath again . . . ?”

Jongin shut his eyes, breathing ragged and deep. “Stop.”

“Ah, I remember now.” Luhan let out a high-pitched laugh. “If I recall correctly, you took oaths of sexual and romantic abstinence, amongst other things. You likewise surrendered your rights to refuse a job given to you. Even Baekhyun’s relationship with me was a sin. And Princes. . . . Should I continue?”

“Do what you fucking want,” Jongin snapped.

“You’re already strangely white-faced. I shall not. Would you like some water?”

Without waiting for his answer, Luhan poured water into another glass and gently offered it to him. He stared at the glass blankly.

“I didn’t put anything in it. What good will I gain if I poison you? Drink. It will help with the hangover,” Luhan said kindly, thrusting the glass to his face.

Jongin waited a few more seconds before taking a tentative sip. When he didn’t drop dead, he gulped the water down empty.

“Why were you at the party?” Jongin said after a while.

“I organized it. Technically it was _my_ party. It happened to be in Yixing’s home. Eh,” Luhan said, flipping his coal-black locks as he sat on the couch. When Luhan reached down to pick up a magazine, Jongin realized how small the apartment was—smaller than Baekhyun’s, even—with almost everything cramped into one room. However, Jongin didn’t have the energy to question Luhan’s financial state.

Jongin racked his mind for questions he and Baekhyun prepared beforehand, but the hangover was making it hard for him to think straight. Instead, he said, “What’s your relationship with Yixing?”

Luhan looked at him as if he’d grown another head. “What?”

“Your relationship. With Yixing,” Jongin repeated patiently.

“. . . We’re close.”

Jongin’s eyebrows rose. “Boyfriends?”

The vampire looked up. “Jesus, being so intrusive so early in the morning? Is this what you wanted to talk to me about?” he grumbled. “Yes, but without the romance.”

“Fuck buddies,” Jongin smoothly suggested.

“Too vulgar.”

“Lovers?”

“I think I mentioned ‘no romance’ along the lines of this conversation.”

Jongin made a face. “Friends with benefits.”

“That’s more like it.”

Luhan’s phone buzzed on the table beside the bed where he had left it. Jongin, by instinct, grabbed the phone immediately, alerting the vampire. _Taeyeon_ , it read. The Villain racked his mind, but he did not remember anyone named Taeyeon.

“Give me that,” Luhan hissed, snatching his phone from the Villain’s hands. “I swear to my ancestors, Villains are the most meddlesome creatures.”

Jongin’s face was apologetic. “Sorry. I thought it was mine.”

“Whatever,” Luhan replied offhandedly, staring at his phone. Then he realized the Villain was looking at him curiously.  “Do you mind if I take this?” he asked.

Jongin waved a hand. “Nah, go ahead.”

Luhan pressed the answer button on the phone and walked toward the window, away from the Villain. “Yes, Xiao Luhan speaking,” Jongin heard the vampire say before the latter went completely out of his hearing range.

Looking around, Jongin realized he had not called Baekhyun yet. The brunet surely must have been dead worried about him now. He tapped his jean pockets to find his phone and was surprised to find them empty. Then he remembered. _Damn that fucking vampire…_

“It _is_ urgent,” said Luhan, voice slowly getting louder. “I’m just… fixing something here. I will be in the hotel tonight.”

Jongin didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but as the conversation got deeper Luhan seemed to forget his presence in the room. _Not my fault_ , he thought smugly. _He took my phone._

“ _No_ , I’m not with Yixing. I had some business to do… Believe me, Taeyeon. I am well-aware of my responsibilities.”

“My ass,” Jongin muttered. “You gave us shit for three months.”

It was true. When Baekhyun and Luhan met, Baekhyun was in the second year of his first college and Luhan a wandering spirit. The vampire had no job, no apartment—just clothes and his flirtatious tongue. He had been jumping from home to home then—one close friend to another—until Baekhyun offered to let him stay in his and Jongin’s, which the latter absolutely disapproved of. It had been working fine in the first few weeks, but Jongin’s intuitions proved to be right. As time passed by, Luhan had become more and more demanding and less responsible for his own self. While Jongin and Baekhyun paid the bills, Luhan ransacked the refigerator and left the duo to eat instant noodles every night. Jongin could never forget those three months of pure frustration.

That was before Luhan had been turned into a vampire by one of the guys he had been hooking up with behind Baekhyun’s back. So much for liking vaginas.

“I wasn’t. I’m not even drunk,” Luhan said, sounding regretful. He was staring out the large window of the studio, watching, curtains shielding his body from the outside world. It was still dark. “I just got home. Happy?”

Jongin was contemplating escaping the room by now.

“All right, can I call you back?” Luhan said finally and ended the call. Jongin slumped back on the bed feeling defeated.

It took a while before the silence broke. “Was that your girlfriend?”

“Just… _Why_ are you so interested in my affections?” Luhan said, eyebrows furrowed in exasperation.

Jongin opened his mouth to deny it, but instead colored in realization. “I don’t know. . . . Well, you _did_ break my best friend’s heart.”

Luhan’s lips quirked. “See, if I was even half as nosy as you, I’d enquire if Baekhyun’s surely just a _best friend—_ but I will not. Even I am not that meddlesome,” he said, leaning down to level his face with Jongin’s. Jongin’s heart almost jumped out of his chest. “But, to satisfy your interests, Taeyeon is not my lover. She is the current Head of the Downworld vampire clan.”

The vampire impishly kissed Jongin’s nose before leaving the Villain to digest his words dumbfounded.

 

“Oh, you’re here again?” Yixing muttered soullessly when he opened the door. He looked as if he had been sleeping. Baekhyun couldn’t blame him.

“I need to find Luhan.” The warlock looked at him inquiringly. “Jongin’s gone and I think Luhan took him.”

Yixing’s eyebrows raised. “And what’s that got to do with me?”

“Well, isn’t he your friend?” Baekhyun said.

“Well, aren’t you his ex-boyfriend?” Yixing replied, eyes glinting, challenging him.

Baekhyun exhaled slowly through his nose, exasperated. “Do you or do you not know where he took my friend?”

“I’m guessing somewhere private?” Yixing leaned against the doorway, crossing his arms. “What makes you think he took your friend anyway?”

 _I may or may not have sent Jongin out to spy on him._ Baekhyun didn’t blink. “I just know. Like you said, ex-boyfriend complex.”

Yixing was examining his nails, looking bored. “And like I said, he and your friend are probably making out somewhere—”

“They’re not. They _hate_ each other. We swore an oath of celibacy and Jongin’s not answering his phone.”

“Well, that’s boring,” said Yixing. “And quite unfortunate.”

“You don’t have to be sorry. I just want to know where Luhan might have taken him.”

Yixing regarded him with a blank stare. “I don’t know, and even if I did, I won’t tell you. I’m not going behind an entire race’s back just because of one person, thanks.”

Baekhyun looked at him pleadingly. “Even for a friend?”

“We don’t have friends. You know that. And it’s time you learned your lesson. Your Jongin dying might be a sign from the heavens.”

“Oh, I’ve got enough signs from the heavens now. Just help me find Jongin and I won’t ever bother you again. I know you have an idea,” said Baekhyun.

“My guess? They probably went somewhere to fuck. Luhan never leaves a party without getting his ass penetrated. And afterwards, he’ll maybe feed on your friend and dump him in a road somewhere.”

“That’s . . .” Baekhyun began, “not a very nice thing to say.”

“You asked.”

“He’s going to kill Jongin?” Baekhyun said, staring.

“I said feed. Luhan doesn’t kill people unreasonably. Though for your dim-witted friend, I’d say the stakes are very high.”

“Jongin’s not dim-witted,” Baekhyun protested angrily.

Yixing waved a hand flippantly.

“Look, just tell me whether he’s taken my friend and where he took him.” Baekhyun fumbled on the edge of his shirt. “Please.”

Yixing sighed after a few seconds. “Fine. He did take your friend, but I don’t know where. They left with a black car. 29THD03,” he said finally.

“One more thing.” Baekhyun sounded breathless. He craved more of those drinks Chanyeol got from the bar, and only if Jongin wasn’t missing he would’ve let himself get wasted by now. “Where’s their lair?”

“Their what?”

“Their den. Their nest. Whatever you call it. That’s where they went, isn’t it?”

“It stands to reason.” Yixing looked as if he’d rather be anywhere else.

“Tell me where it is. I know their last location was in Florida, but it has been long since then and I know vampires change headquarters every century. I want to know where their current lair is.”

Yixing ran a hand through his hair, sighing. “And why would I do that?”

“Because Jongin might die if I don’t get him from them.”

For the first time, Yixing looked a little sympathetic. “They all die,” he said, not unkindly. “Might as well get used to it.”

Baekhyun turned desperate. “ _I know that_! Don’t you think I do? I know it as well as you do,” he said, voice getting more hushed as he did so. “But Jongin isn’t meant to die, at least not yet. We’re immortal, us Villains. And if he dies in the hands of _vampires_ , I won’t be able to forgive myself.”

“Are you really?” Yixing looked pensive. “And why would dying in the hands of _vampires_ be any worse?”

For once, Baekhyun didn’t have anything to reply. He could think of a few reasons, but he realized that most of them sounded ridiculous even in his head.

“You seem to have a detrimental opinion about vampires. Baekhyun, I’ve lived for a few hundred years longer than you. Listen to me. All the wars in this world and ours begin with prejudice. I learned this when my father helped in the destruction of my village, thinking I was a bad omen. Until now, I still wish I had died with them rather than know that my own kin is capable of doing something so grim just because I was born. You never forget about things like that, so believe me when I tell you that that outlook of yours is poisonous. Got that? Now go.”

“Wait,” Baekhyun said hastily. “You still haven’t told me where the vampires’ lair is.”

“And I’m not going to. You’re going to have to wait this out. Say what you will about Luhan, but he’s not actually as bad as he looks like. Trust me on this one. Good night.”

The door slammed in his face.

 

“Get up! Get _up_!”

Jongin frowned in his sleep. He must have been having a nightmare, hearing Luhan’s voice. But then he remembered, and his eyelids opened.

“Is it night? Am I free to go home now?” Jongin asked groggily, rubbing his eyes. He turned his head towards the window. Judging by the stark brightness, it was most likely two in the afternoon. Then why. . . .

Luhan interrupted his train of thoughts. “No, I need to take you to Taeyeon first.”

“What?” Jongin shrieked as the vampire proceeded to cuff his hands. “What for? You said nothing about this!”

“Tradition,” Luhan answered. Jongin thought he was not being very kind.

“You liar! You said you’ll take me back home!”

“I’m not a liar. I _will_ take you to Baekhyun . . .” Luhan paused, “. . . after this.”

Jongin’s panic was undeterred. “I knew I shouldn’t have trusted you!”

Luhan looked offended. “Come on, now. Don’t judge the book by its past relationships.”

“And I thought you can’t go out in direct sunlight? It’s only afternoon now,” Jongin continued to ramble.

“I appreciate the concern, but we do not need to head out. Taeyeon is only upstairs,” Luhan said and tugged at Jongin’s arms a bit harshly, making the Villain stand up.

To say that Jongin was horrified was an understatement. “Just . . . where exactly are we?”

Turning the doorknob, Luhan let out a sheepish laugh. “Oh, I must have forgotten to tell you. I assure you, it was not deliberate. This is not my real residence. We are at the clan’s headquarters.”

“. . . Excuse me?”

Luhan grinned, and opened the door.

“Welcome to Hotel Motetz Dam.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> because it's my birthday today. lol. and please please give me energy to post the interlude tomorrow for baek's birthday PLEEASEE
> 
> i wrote this on a whim so if something feels missing or weird pls tell me i just HAD to post this today 
> 
> by the way, I made this thing: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dca54uNVMAAvVAe.jpg:large / https://twitter.com/tokkiberri/status/992685964014186496   
> it's baekhyun's character art. it looks hella ugly, but let me know if you guys want more lol?
> 
> p.s. i realized it's been two years since i first posted this story and i've posted not even half of it yet. don't kill me guys uwu


End file.
